In the middle of a Chicago winter, you depend heavily on the heating system for your commercial property. Even a small interruption in the heater’s operation can mean significant revenue loss from downtime. Acting fast is the key to mitigating these problems, so let’s look at how you can tell it’s time to schedule professional service for your commercial heating system.
Packaged rooftop HVAC units are the basis of most heating and cooling systems in commercial buildings, from small businesses to major high-rises. Handling the installation and replacement of rooftop units in Chicago, IL is a big part of what we do, and we want to make sure that our customers receive the best service possible.
However, there are ongoing disruptions in the global supply chain that have created difficulties for contractors to maintain current supplies of important equipment such as commercial/industrial rooftop units. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has waned in the US, it’s still prevalent in many other countries that are part of the supply chain. The recent Russian invasion of Ukraine and the continuing war in Eastern Europe has further worsened the supply chain issue.
The upshot of all this is that we’re currently experiencing a delay with installations for rooftop units. The delay for installing these units can be from 12 to 30 weeks. We’ll do all we can to accommodate our customers, but we recommend that businesses plan ahead and assess their needs on a longer timeline.
For many decades, the most common type of commercial heating system in Chicagoland has been the packaged rooftop unit. These HVAC systems provide both cooling and heating and have many advantages, such as freeing up space inside the building, easy access for technicians without disrupting the workspace, and keeping noisy equipment far away from employees, customers, etc.
But because Chicago receives snow during the winter, you might wonder if this is a serious problem for your business’ rooftop units. Althoff has a long history of working with commercial heating solutions for all types of commercial facilities, and we want to address concerns business owners like you may have about their rooftop units vs. the snow.
Most commercial buildings and facilities use rooftop HVAC units for climate control. These are packaged units, which means all the important components are housed inside the rooftop cabinet rather than split between indoor and outdoor units, which is common for homes. Putting all this equipment on the roof is convenient as it frees up space indoors, keeps the noise of the machines removed from the workspace, and makes it easy for technicians to access without interrupting operations.
There is one drawback to the rooftop location, which is that it can be tricky for people in the facility to notice the early signs of one of these units malfunctioning. However, there are several signs you can watch for that will warn you it’s time to call for commercial HVAC technicians to investigate the equipment and repair it if necessary.
