According to facility managers and other industry experts, commercial HVAC systems account for approximately 40% of a building’s total energy use. Due to the monetary costs associated with such high volume, building managers and property owners should recognize the reasons efficiency suffers before the fact and avoid the most common mistakes listed below.

Why is my commercial building losing energy efficiency? 

Installation Error – Your building’s HVAC system works extremely hard all day, and if, due to user error, the transmission of data from the HVAC system to the building manager is off, efficiency suffers from day one. Your coils could be asked to perform at levels never intended, which, in turn, will accelerate their decline in performance.

Outdated commercial HVAC equipment – Like any living thing, your building as well as the equipment used to make it function begins to die as soon as it’s built. Over time, dirty filters, clogged lines, low refrigerant, corrosion, worn belts, incorrect pressure and temperature negatively impact equipment HVAC performance and efficiency.  Many times, this can entail replacing many of the system’s core components, such as hot and cool water coils. If considering this option, make a checklist of the following and see how many come up short:

• Type, condition and age of HVAC equipment
• Manufacturer’s recommended performance of HVAC equipment 
• Overall performance of HVAC equipment based on location and original intent.

Temporary/Band-Aid Fixes – In response to complaints from a certain tenant or an entire floor, a facility manager might try to jury-rig the system into temporarily correcting those issues. More times than not, creating a work-around will only exacerbate previously existing problems. If you opt to not go the coil replacement route, spend the extra time and/or money to make sure you get the problem corrected the first time. This is guaranteed to save time and money in the future.

Maintenance staff cutbacks – Unfortunately, when looking to cut costs, building owners will first look to trim the maintenance staff. Like any industry, you have fewer people handling more responsibilities. As a result, things get missed, short cuts get taken, band aid fixes are applied, etc. In short, cutting back on staff can have negative consequences on your building’s performance.

Any of the above listed reasons can irreparably destroy the commercial coils that are the primary cogs in your HVAC system. Hopefully that does not happen in the near-term, but when the inevitable does occur and those coils need to be replaced, Capital Coil & Air is perfectly positioned to be your commercial coil replacement experts. We’d love the opportunity to earn your business on your next project, so please give us a try! You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Are You Asking Your Coil Supplier These Questions?

1. Are you 100% protected on jobs? Unless you’re one of our reps, you most assuredly, are not.  Not only are you probably NOT protected on all projects by your supplier, but you’re probably competing against your supplier if/when they decide to bid the job direct. Call us old fashioned, but that’s just not the way we do business. 
2. Is your coil manufacturer building coils with a 3 week standard lead time like Capital Coil? Most companies build coils with a standard 4-5 week lead time.  Why lose out on a job because your supplier refuses to change to meet your timetable?
3. Are the coils you’re buying AHRI certified? If they’re not, you know you’re not dealing with a real manufacturer and probably just a broker slapping their stickers on someone else’s coil. AHRI certification allows you to sell more products, win bids, differentiate yourselves from competitors, comply with government requirements, and meet current engineering standards.  Look at the website, and if you do not immediately seeing the certification, that should raise immediate red flags. 
4. Is your coil supplier exhibiting at the AHR Show 2018 in Chicago? We are a regular at the show and look forward to face-to-face time with all of our customers.  Not only is it a great way to meet and catch-up with existing customers, it is also beneficial in gaining new business for our representatives.  Are you receiving the amount of qualified leads that you should? 
5. Are you receiving quotes and a full submittal package within the same hour? With every job, but especially in emergency replacement conditions, you deserve a fast response on every job.  Pricing does no good sitting on a manufacturer’s desk or e-mail for 2 days. 
6. Has your coil supplier shut down all quick ships for long periods of time? Do you think you are going to get a second look the next time someone needs their equipment quickly?  Probably not. 
7. Does your coil supplier have a library of model numbers to cross-reference? Generally speaking, most folks would rather not have to crawl up on a rooftop, especially during the winter, in order to measure a coil. Wouldn’t it be easier and a time-saver if your manufacturer could duplicate your coil by having the model information on file? We have a very large library of coils we’ve built in the past and can match up to your Carrier, Trane, or Daikin coils.  
8. Are you dealing with owners of the company on a daily basis? Or are you dealing with neophyte kids who just don’t know the industry?  Unforeseen problems could arise on any job. Are you able to get the ownership on the phone that minute to help resolve your problem, or do you need to pull them off the golf course? When dealing with Capital Coil, you have access to CCA’s ownership every single day. 
9. Does your supplier offer a full menu of options? Capital Coil offers all tube diameters, materials and coatings to meet almost any specification.
10. Are you able to get your approval drawings quickly when you land an order? A 5 day quick ship isn’t exactly quick if it takes 2 days to get a drawing.  Why pay that premium for what really is a 7-8 day quick ship after the drawing is made up?

The six most dangerous words in business are “We’ve always done business that way”.  Don’t fall victim to dwindling business because you are used to dealing with a company that does business like it’s 1994.  If your current supplier isn’t fulfilling all 10 of these easy points, then please give Capital Coil a chance on your next project.  We look forward to working with you! 

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Capital Coil & Air’s Mission

Capital Coil & Air has added the Insulated Cabinet Coil to its product offering. Cabinet Coils are suitable for both refrigerant and hydronic applications, while accommodating a wide range of airflows. The Cabinet Coil is a cost-effective option to provide incremental cooling to an existing HVAC system. Insulated Cabinet Coils are well-suited for schools, restaurants, healthcare and pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities; and many other types of buildings as well.

One advantage of using our Insulated Cabinet Coil is a ready-made stainless steel drain pan and coil supports to resist rusting from condensate. Secondly, the Cabinet Coil can be easily installed by attaching the ductwork directly to the coil’s casing flanges.

Capital Coil offers our Insulated Cabinet Coil in a broad range of custom sizes and options, so you can match it exactly to your needs. Intermediate drain pans, multiple coils, and other special options are also available. Every coil is leak-tested under water with 450 PSIG dry nitrogen for quality assurance.

Interested in learning more? Call Capital Coil & Air! We will walk you through and engineer any commercial or industrial HVAC project!

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Insulated Cabinet Coils

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