Here is a hypothetical for you. Suppose someone has the option of dining at one of two restaurants. Both serve great food. Both have great service. Both are conveniently located and offer ample parking. They only differ in one significant aspect: whereas one has a fully functional HVAC system, the other hasn’t. Assuming the diner enjoys comfort, which restaurant do you think they will prefer?
We hope our attempt at guiding your answer isn’t too ham-fisted. It’s just our way of illustrating an important point: regular commercial kitchen HVAC repair is crucial to any restaurant’s success! Let’s explore each reason why that is, beginning with the point we’ve already raised.
Regular Commercial Kitchen HVAC Repair Is Essential to Guest Comfort
According to Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine, the ideal temperature for dining is 69 to 72 °F. (Individual diners’ preferences vary widely, of course. Ask anyone who works at a restaurant near a retirement community and they’ll tell you that their guests prefer a dining room temperature that is only slightly cooler than the surface of the sun.)
Extreme exceptions aside, you should strive to offer a dining room temperature of around 70 to 71 °F. When they are most comfortable, guests are more likely to stay longer. That directly translates to increased drink, appetizer and dessert sales. When they aren’t comfortable, guests are prone to limit their dining experiences to entrees only – and potentially write nasty things on Yelp and Google Reviews afterward.
Don’t let an unexpected HVAC system failure compromise the ambiance you’ve worked so hard to perfect. Request regular service by a commercial HVAC technician every spring and fall, and rest assured you’ll keep your guests cool in the summer and snug in the winter.
Regular Commercial Kitchen HVAC Repair Prevents Extended Downtimes
The consequences of a sudden HVAC failure are likely to last significantly longer than a dinner shift. There are a finite number of qualified HVAC technicians in your area, which means you may be unable to schedule emergency repairs as soon as they are needed. Worse yet, necessary replacement parts could take weeks to arrive from manufacturers.
By scheduling regular HVAC service, you will discover mechanical issues long before they can cause a crisis. According to the Indoor Air Quality Association, regular maintenance can reduce the risk of expensive and interruptive breakdowns by as much as 95%. In other words, a little bit of foresight can prevent 19 out of 20 HVAC emergencies.
Regular Commercial Kitchen HVAC Repair Reduces Energy Consumption
Efficiency is not a foreign concept to restaurant managers. You see its benefits every day while observing your kitchen and front-of-house staff working together like a well-oiled machine.
Do you know what else runs like a well-oiled machine? A regularly maintained HVAC system – which is, uncoincidentally, well oiled. When you hire an HVAC technician to perform spring and fall maintenance, they will lubricate moving parts, replace obstructed filters, remove bird and rodent nests, clean condenser coils and burners, and do everything else in their power to help mechanical systems run as efficiently as possible.
An efficient HVAC system won’t just perform more reliably. It will also expend less energy as it heats and cools the restaurant. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, simply replacing an air conditioner’s filter can reduce energy consumption by as much as 15%. That’s just one of dozens of ways HVAC maintenance can save you money!
Regular Commercial Kitchen HVAC Repair Reduces Repair Costs
Your commercial HVAC system is a complex arrangement of mechanical components. When one of those components begins to falter, it has far-reaching effects on several other interconnected parts.
When you allow a single broken part to remain in a furnace or air conditioner, it significantly accelerates wear and tear throughout the entire HVAC system. Your options are therefore quite clear: schedule regular service that detects and replaces worn out parts, or allow those same worn out parts to reduce efficiency and increase the risk of more extensive damage throughout the HVAC system.Do you own or manage a restaurant in the greater Sioux Falls, SD area? Then our team is standing by to keep your guests comfortable, reduce the risk of an HVAC breakdown, and save you money on energy costs and by avoiding preventable repairs. We welcome you to contact Haugan Heating & Air Conditioning today for all your commercial kitchen HVAC repair and maintenance needs!