How to Effectively Clean Your Chiller and Cooling Tower

This week’s post continues our HVAC “Spring Cleaning” series on giving your facility’s cooling system some much needed attention before warmer weather arrives. Below are our three printable HVAC cleaning checklists to get you started:

Checklist 1: How to Clean Chiller Tubes
Checklist 2: How To Clean Air Conditioner Coils
Checklist 3: How to Clean Cooling Towers

(Note: You must provide your email address to get access to each checklist.)

The second post in our HVAC “Spring Cleaning” blog series explains how to clean chiller tubes and cooling towers. The last post in the series will explain how to properly clean your cooling system’s air conditioner coils.

Here’s more about this week’s topic – cleaning chiller tubes and cooling towers:

Starting Your HVAC “Spring Cleaning” Checklist is as Easy as 1-2-3

Now – before the summer heat arrives – is the time to give your facility’s cooling system attention.  Fortunately, Goodway makes it easy for you to start today. Below are three printable HVAC cleaning checklists to get the ball rolling:

Checklist 1: How to Clean Chiller Tubes
Checklist 2: How To Clean Air Conditioner Coils
Checklist 3: How to Clean Cooling Towers

(Note: You must provide your email address to get access to each checklist.)

We are also writing a HVAC “Spring Cleaning” blog series to explain each checklist in more detail. This first post in the series is an HVAC cleaning overview. The remaining two posts in the series will explain how to properly clean your cooling system’s chiller tubes, air conditioner coils and cooling towers. In these future posts, we’ll discuss the importance of cleaning specific parts of your cooling system and specifically reference these checklists that address the procedures and what tools/products you’ll need to get the job done right.

For now, here’s the overview . . .

Preparing Your Restaurant’s HVAC System for the Summer Heat

It’s never too early to start preparing your restaurant’s or other food and beverage facility’s air conditioning unit for the upcoming summer months.

With the arrival of the unseasonably warm spring in many areas of the country this year, early preparation of your restaurant’s or food and beverage facility’s HVAC system is crucial to ensure that it’s working properly. With temperatures reaching the low 80s, many eateries and food and beverage facilities have been forced to turn on their air conditioning systems without having properly prepared them after a long winter of inactivity.

Preparing your HVAC system is important for any season, but the summer months can put additional stress on systems that are not maintained properly. Spring is the best time, as well as the most traditional time to prepare your air conditioning unit for the hot weather.

How to Assure ‘Right Sizing’ HVAC Systems for Efficient Operation

“Right sizing” an HVAC system improves efficiency, reduces noise, offers greater cooling/heating comfort and saves money. An oversized system increases installation costs, wastes energy, and costs more in overall operating costs than correctly sized systems.

If you consider the worst-case scenarios when sizing your HVAC system, such as maximum occupancy, lighting needs and weather conditions, you’ll probably install an oversized system. And an oversized system can reduce the cooling capacity. That results in the compressors short cycling, which in turn affects the system’s ability to dehumidify the building effectively.

Indoor Air Quality Disasters: How Liable Are You as an HVAC Professional?

Did you know that an HVAC contractor may be liable when an indoor air quality (IAQ) issue is directly linked to a defect in the air-conditoning, heating or ventilation system?

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, HVAC systems contribute to poor air quality through insufficient design and ventilation system deficiencies. Contaminant buildup in ventilation systems as well as improper temperature and humidity conditions are all causes.

A properly designed, installed, operated and maintained HVAC system distributes air adequately to remove odors, fumes and other indoor air contaminants.

The design of the ventilation system should address the size of the space as well as the number of occupants and any special uses. Facilities with higher amounts of emissions, such as laboratories, printing businesses or woodworking shops, require more extensive ventilation systems to expel the contamination source.

While some of the contaminants contributing to poor indoor air quality are found in products used within the operation processes of the facility, other contaminants may be introduced by the HVAC contractor.

Job site operations can disturb asbestos, lead and other contaminants. Materials used in the project may spill or leak during construction. Indoor pollution liability claims can result when a contractor is negligent in providing adequate controls for hazardous materials during construction or a renovation.

A contractor could be found responsible for air quality issues, particularly if the company failed to properly design/install the system, failed to provide appropriate drawings and obtain permits, used hazardous materials and installed the units in violation of local building codes.

Outdoor air entering a building, particularly from motor vehicle exhaust and other emissions, may affect indoor air quality. Circulating outside air through the HVAC system dilutes the indoor pollutants released by equipment, building materials, and other products.

A HVAC contractor may face liability if the pollutants are entering the building due to poorly located air intake vents or if the building is not receiving an adequate supply of outside air.

Ventilation systems must comply with the standards set by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). These standards, established in 1989, are voluntary standards (they’re only enforceable if the state or city adopts them into its building code) set to address minimum ventilation rates acceptable to people with the goal of minimizing adverse health effects.

The standards vary based on the type of operation, the building, the activities performed within the building, the equipment housed in the building and the occupancy. ASHRAE sets standards that specify the amount of outside air (cubic feet per minute) that must be brought into the building to maintain proper indoor air quality. When rooms in a building are used for purposes outside of the original design, the HVAC system may require modification.

Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance can protect an HVAC contractor, but coverage does not always extend to air quality issues. Some insurers offer separate policies particularly for air quality and  professional liabilities.

According to Bill Pritchard, the President of Beacon Hill Associates Inc., an insurance broker specializing in environmental and contractors pollution liability insurance, CGL insurance does not usually cover pollution claims resulting from on-site plan modifications made by the contractor to make the sytem work and the actual design work performed. CGL insurance also does not cover the subcontractor’s work.

Contractors Pollution Liability (CPL) insurance is designed to protect an insured’s operations from third party claims relevant to damage from air quality issues. Professional liability insurance (PLI), also called errors and omissions (E&O), is a liability insurance that protects companies from bearing the costs of defending against negligence claims by clients.

Both policies bridge the gap between CGL coverage and professional liability exclusions. Because air quality issues and professional liability are generally excluded from CGL policies, it’s important for HVAC contractors to have comprehensive coverage that protects them fully from such potential claims.

Next Steps

Check out Controlling Mold: An HVAC Professional’s Guide in our learning center

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