Consider Purchasing a Planned Maintenance Agreement
The performance of your HVAC system depends to a great extent on the quality and frequency of maintenance the equipment receives. A planned maintenance agreement can ensure your furnace, heat pump, air conditioner, or boiler runs at its best level while also helping relieve the need to remember to call your service provider for scheduling.
What is a Planned Maintenance Agreement?
A planned maintenance agreement, sometimes called a service contract or service agreement, is an contract between you and your HVAC services provider for regular inspections, tune ups, and maintenance visits for your heating and cooling systems. These types of maintenance agreements are usually purchased separately from any warranties or guarantees that come with your HVAC equipment. The additional cost of a planned maintenance agreement is more than made up for in convenience, peace of mind, and improved HVAC system operation.
Benefits of a Planned Maintenance Agreement
A planned maintenance agreement will typically allow for a certain number of maintenance appointments throughout the year, usually in the time period before heating season for your furnace or cooling season for your air conditioner. Other benefits of a planned maintenance agreement include:
- Improved HVAC equipment performance and efficiency: A planned maintenance agreement allows an HVAC professional the opportunity to physically check your heating and cooling equipment on a regular schedule. The technician can find and correct small problems to keep them from becoming larger issues later on. Performance adjustments can be made, broken or malfunctioning components can be replaced, cleaning can be done, and overall efficiency can be improved before the equipment is put into service for the season.
- Better indoor comfort: When your heating and cooling systems work at better levels of performance and efficiency, the comfort level inside your building will increase. Heating and cooling will be more consistent and the equipment will produce a comfort level consistent with its size and functional capacity.
- Reduced heating and cooling costs: A well-maintained heating or cooling system will be more efficient, which means that it will cost less to maintain comfort inside your commercial facility. There will be less need to increase or decrease temperatures at the thermostat to make up for poor system performance. In general, you’ll use less energy, which will lead to smaller monthly bills.
- Sustained performance with fewer malfunctions: By keeping your HVAC system in good repair, you will increase the system’s functional life and ensure that it works consistently throughout the season. Malfunctions will be decreased and there will be less chance of a breakdown that will require a costly repair visit, especially an emergency repair when your HVAC professional is busy and repair costs are at their highest. Keep in mind, too, that some manufacturer warranties require regular maintenance; not having maintenance performed on a consistent schedule could void the warranty.
What to Expect from a Planned Maintenance Agreement
Some of the more common elements of a planned maintenance agreement include:
- Regular maintenance visits and equipment inspections, adjustments, and repairs: Heating systems will usually be given a tune up in the fall, while cooling systems will receive a maintenance visit in the spring. Your HVAC services provider will contact you to make the appointment, relieving you of the need to remember to do the scheduling yourself.
- Discounts on materials and service: Planned maintenance agreements will frequently include discounts for parts or labor, based on conditions specified by the contractor. Emergency calls or standard service calls, or both, could also be offered at a discount.
- Priority service: Holders of maintenance agreements will usually get priority service, which means they will receive appointments first, before others who have not purchased a service contract.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about Plumbing, HVACR, Fire Protection and Alarm Systems in Mechanical, Commercial and Residential settings. For more information on finding the right maintenance agreement for your business repairs, and to view projects we’ve worked on, visit our website!