The energy bills for a commercial building are no joke. People who have only ever looked at residential energy bills have no idea. So when those bills start rising even higher, you notice right away. But you might not know what’s causing it. After all, those utilities cover a wide range of energy needs in your building.
The first thing you should consider in this situation is your HVAC system. When your commercial energy costs are going up and you don’t know why, your commercial HVAC system is the most likely culprit.
HVAC Energy Use
While it’s true that your commercial building does use energy in a lot of ways, the biggest single use of energy is your HVAC system. The US Department of Energy calculated that in the average commercial building, 44% of energy use goes toward heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.
That explains why your energy bills are so high in general, as well as why an increase is probably HVAC-related—it stands to reason that the most likely cause is the thing that consumes the most energy. But it doesn’t explain why your energy costs are increasing. What are the possible explanations for that?
Maintenance Needs
Commercial HVAC systems simply experience more of everything. More dust and dirt, more wear and tear, more time spent running, more strain on the system. This means they have correspondingly higher maintenance needs. If you haven’t been getting maintenance regularly enough, that’s definitely contributing to an increase in energy use.
One category of maintenance is the type you can do yourself. Your air filters need to be replaced every month. Clogged filters force the system to work harder to draw in enough air. And you need to keep the equipment—especially AC or heat pump coils—clean. Dust and caked-on dirt decrease the amount of heat the coils can absorb and release, slowing the process and making the system run more than it should.
The other category of maintenance is the type done by qualified HVAC technicians who have experience with commercial HVAC in Duluth, GA. By cleaning all the components, lubricating moving parts, and catching small issues that contribute to excess energy use, your maintenance technician will significantly improve your HVAC efficiency.
Aging Systems
The other potential reason for your HVAC system to be using more energy is if it is getting old. At a certain point, no amount of maintenance or repair can quite bring your system back up to the efficiency it had when it was new. The only way to cut your energy costs at that point is to replace the system.
But we have excellent news on that front! Today’s commercial HVAC systems are more efficient than ever before. They’ll be able to do the job while using less energy than even a top-of-the-line system from ten or fifteen years ago did when it was brand-new.
Whether you need to schedule routine maintenance, ask a question about how to change an air filter, or have an in-depth conversation about your commercial HVAC replacement options, we’re always happy to help.
Reach out to Wall Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc. to make an appointment.