HVAC is central to building comfort. Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning control temperature, humidity, and indoor air quality so people can work without thinking about it. When these systems break, productivity goes down, and energy bills go up.
This guide describes the major components of a commercial HVAC system—what they do, how they impact efficiency, where they typically fail, and how to maintain them. If anything in here sounds familiar, mark it for your next service visit. Book your HVAC inspection or get a quote for upgrades.
An HVAC system transports air and heat. It is heated during winter (furnace, boiler or heat pump). It chills during the summer (refrigeration cycle). It introduces new air (ventilation). And it provides conditioned air in the right place (air handlers, ducts, and terminal units).
Controls range from a wall thermostat to a complete BAS / BMS. They begin with equipment, capacity, and airflow to demand.
Thermostats measure room temperature (and in some cases humidity and CO 2 ) and indicate to the system when to heat, cool, or ventilate. In commercial buildings, more than one sensor may report to a BAS that has setpoints, schedules, and alarms.
HVAC energy consumption can be reduced by 10-30% by means of occupancy-based control, smarter setpoints and tight schedules. Wins on low cost include:
Typical failure points:
Verify sensor calibration annually, check locations (eye-level, away from drafts), review schedules each season, and trend data. If you’re still on old pneumatic or standalone stats, it may be time to get a quote for networked controls.
Furnace employs gas as a fuel to heat up heat exchanger; air is circulated over the exchanger and gets warmed. Condensing furnaces also use additional heat present in the flue gases to improve efficiency.
Heat pump, on the one hand, transfers heat with the help of a refrigeration cycle. When in heating mode, it removes heat in the outdoor air or ground and provides it to the indoors. Variable-speed compressors are frequently used in commercial units.
Some of the failure points of furnace include cracked heat exchanger (safety risk), ignition or flame sensor problems, flues that are blocked, and inducer motor failures.