www.eleccommpowerservices.com
Planning for unexpected outages during winter is a necessary part of doing
business in today’s marketplace. Heater equipment breakdowns and power
failures – which usually stem from severe weather ice storms, extensive snowfall and heavy winds, accidents and animals entangled in electric
wires – can occur without warning and take hours, days or even weeks to repair.
In the mean time, you, your employees and vulnerable products and machinery
will be subject to winter’s bitter temperatures and a crippling work stoppage
caused by heat or power outages.
Before disaster strikes, it’s critical for your organization to develop a recovery
plan that includes fast access to a temporary heat source via commercial
heaters. And, it’s equally important to make sure you choose a heater supplier
and installer with experience in estimating size and BTUs, providing a fuel
source, selecting the proper installation location and more.
Review your options with commercial heater suppliers in advance to avoid unnecessary frustration during heater downtime. Make
sure each potential supplier is willing to do a site walk, which means sending a
company representative out to your facility for an on-site needs analysis. Same-
day service is a plus. You should not accept a quote without a site walk.
In addition, you’ll want to eliminate companies whose inexperience may lead to
these major setbacks:
- Heaters that are too small for your needs. An unqualified installer of
temporary commercial heaters may underestimate the size and BTUs
needed. If this measurement is wrong from the start, the heater they
deliver will have little effect.
- Inability to access proper fuel sources. Some communities will only
allow propane- or diesel-fired units, while others only indirect fired or
electric. If electric is the only option, the heater supplier must evaluate the
power sources you have on site. Even if you have the required voltage,
you may not be able to spare the amps that run your production facility.
Without a plan, the heater they deliver will be useless.
- Installing the heater in the wrong location. Because inside and outside
installations differ, it’s important to determine where the heater will be
placed prior to implementation.
- Wrong set-up for outside installation. If the temporary heater will be
outside, it’s necessary to create the right kind of ductwork for supply and
return. If your heater is too far away from the needed area, the static
pressure on the fan may not allow for proper air flow, which can cause the
heater to “trip out” or overheat.
- Failure to respond. Companies that do not return calls promptly or
make your request for a site walk a priority may mean trouble later only –
particularly in an emergency.
Power failures and equipment breakdowns are often unpredictable, but you can
predict how well you respond to them by thinking ahead about fast, emergency
access to a temporary source of heat. Partnering with an experienced
installer of temporary heaters can help you avoid a costly and potentially damaging work
stoppage if the heat goes out in freezing winter weather.
For more information, or to speak with a commercial heater expert, please
call ElecComm Power Services at 1-866-352-0170 or visit our website at
www.eleccommpowerservices.com.
Grab ElecComm Power Services Blog Feed
