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April 22, 2014

Seasonal Maintenance and Check-out: Preparing for Summer

It seems like all everybody has been talking about for months now is the weather and how cold it’s been. Well, with summer finally just around the corner, building owners and operators need to start thinking about a different kind of weather and how to prepare their HVAC systems for it.

As the shoulder season arrives between winter and summer, the heating systems scale back and the cooling systems have not yet begun to run at full load. This is an excellent time to verify your system components and take care of any service issues that arise. Regular mechanical maintenance is critical for achieving high performance and an extended life out of your equipment, but an often overlooked aspect of seasonal performance is the Building Automation System and its related components. The following is a suggested list of things to check as the warmer weather moves in.

Begin by verifying all sequences of operation. Go through the control shop drawings and compare the sequences to how the cooling systems operate once they are initiated. As the load is low, there should be minimal effects to shutting down and correcting any issues you might have. Ensure all sensors are reading accurately and the same at the sensor itself and on the computer system. Verify all control valves in your system for proper movement and reaction to control. Verify the damper positions and proper actuation of all dampers. Check that the system has properly tuned loops to avoid your system hunting and to achieve equilibrium throughout. Hand in hand with this is checking that your set-points are correct. This is a very important item on the checklist as throughout the winter months, set-points may have been adjusted. Also, programs and overrides would have been set up for extreme weather conditions that will not be applicable during summer.

We at CFMS Consulting are all looking forward to the summer months and the warm weather ahead, but we want to ensure that everyone is properly prepared for it so that the changeover can be smooth and painless. By performing the proper checks and verifications, your systems will perform more efficiently, increase occupancy comfort and last for many years.

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