Recent studies indicate that Minnesota schools have accrued more than $4 billion in deferred maintenance. An obvious first step is to begin to attack that deficiency.
STEAM TRAPS
Steam traps are one of the most forgotten pieces of mechanical equipment. Steam traps, which include float mechanisms like those displayed here, have a limited life expectancy. Here, the in-house maintenance personnel improperly repair two of the floats. The third float has been blown apart by a problem called water hammer. Savings from the repair or replacement of defective steam traps is measured in months not years.
Steam traps need to be tested annually. Despite that, we often find them in operation for decades, with no one ever checking their operation. Climate Makers was one of the first to provide ultrasonic testing to determine the need for any repairs. We are the only company to have every serviceman equipped with an ultrasonic fault detector. These tools help quickly uncover defective steam traps and air leaks in pneumatic temperature control systems.
Many natural gas utilities have rebate programs to encourage you to repair or replace defective steam traps. At our customers' insistence, we have searched the industry to find a better "Mouse (steam) Trap". If you want to get into the technical reasons why we can guarantee some of our new steam traps for as many as ten years, you're welcome to visit www.tlv.com for more details on their exclusive free floating ball mechanism and paraffin based thermostatic elements.
BOILER BURNERS
Boiler burners are another area where it is not always obvious that things are broken. Out of tune burners spill tons of pollutants into the atmosphere. This not only contributes to such problems as acid rain, but also wastes considerable amounts of energy.
TEMPERATURE CONTROLS
Whenever you read anything about indoor air quality, comfort improvement or energy conservation, the need for qualified temperature control service always tops the list. As you can easily imagine by this picture of a pneumatic temperature control panel, the emphasis is on qualified.
Unfortunately, heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are designed so that they can cover up many of their own inefficiencies and problems. We have documented numerous cases, where making certain that these systems operated correctly, provided energy savings that paid for the service in a matter of days.
Many HVAC system deficiencies are apparent, once you take the time to look behind the scene. But, that takes making maintenance recovery a priority.
