The real cost of an unmaintained unit

In short

The cost of an unmaintained unit is not the electricity bill. There are four components, and the largest in most companies is the third: business interruption on a peak day.

The four components

1. Consumption. A loaded evaporator makes the unit run longer for the same temperature. The difference is real, but it is the smallest of the four and depends heavily on how loaded the unit is. We will not give you a percentage: anyone giving an exact figure without having seen the units is guessing.

2. Emergency call-outs. A July call-out costs more than a job scheduled in March, happens later, and catches the unit in the worst possible state.

3. Business interruption. This is the largest part of the cost, and it is almost always ignored. A restaurant with no air conditioning on a July day, a waiting room at 30 degrees, a shop customers walk out of: the cost of a single day often exceeds the annual contract.

4. Early replacement. A unit running for years with blocked heat exchange strains the compressor and reaches replacement sooner. The difference in service life is years, not months.

How to calculate it for your company

Take the number of units, multiply by the per-unit contract price and compare the total against two things: how many emergency call-outs you had last year, and what a day of interrupted business in season is worth. In most companies with over ten units, the second comparison ends the discussion.

When maintenance is not justified

That exists too, and it is only fair to say so: for an office with two units used eight hours a day, an annual contract adds little over a wash every two years, ordered when needed. A contract starts to make sense from five or six units upwards, or from the first unit installed in a false ceiling.

The real cost of an unmaintained unit

The four components

How to calculate it for your company

When maintenance is not justified

See also