How reliable is your boiler?

Commercial Boiler Breakdown With spring and summer fast approaching, now is the ideal time to work on your boiler breakdown recovery plan. The majority of organisations switch on their boilers for heating in October, this only gives you a few weeks to prepare. Take a moment to imagine the consequences of a boiler breakdown to your organisation. No heat, no hot water and all the knock-on effects of that, how badly would it affect the day-to-day running of your business? The ramifications of a boiler breakdown are not purely the financial cost, there may be serious health risks too. Could business carry on as normal? Read on to find out how to avoid it happening to you.

Consequences of boiler breakdown:

Apart from the inconvenience of no heat or hot water, a boiler breakdown means:

  • Unnecessary costs
  • Consequences to health
  • Business down-time that cannot be recouped
  • Inability to provide customer service
  • Dissatisfied staff!

Cold Temperature Thermometer In critical settings, such as hospitals, residential care homes and hotels the implications are potentially serious. It is more cost-effective to take steps to avoid boiler breakdown than to suffer the consequences. Carrying out regular and effective preventative maintenance will protect you from the costs and inconvenience of a breakdown.

Ideal Heat Solutions’ temporary commercial boilers are installed complete with a remote Trend monitoring system; we spot issues as they arise to stop them becoming a problem. If you have hired an emergency or temporary boiler from us, all of this will be taken care of for you.

Four steps to avoid boiler breakdown:

(1) Set out a contingency plan

Time is of the essence. From the first moment of a boiler breakdown the clock is ticking and productivity is compromised. Setting out a contingency plan for your business that everybody is aware of will save you time, money and inconvenience. Think about every eventuality and decide on a precise course of action that should be followed for each situation. Include a log of the necessary technical details and data so it is available immediately. Cover every detail, from the immediate actions required right through to considering potential impacts to your customers. Within the plan, include all the people you would need to contact: staff, suppliers and customers and have the details ready of a reputable supplier of temporary or replacement boilers that you trust. If you have a thorough, well researched and well-rehearsed contingency plan in place, solutions can be put in place quickly and efficiently without unnecessary delay, minimising the impact to your operation. Ensure building owners and all relevant individuals within the organisation understands their role and the actions that need to be taken. The aim is to effect a rapid and seamless response to any system failure.
Carry out a preliminary test to check your boiler system is switched on and functioning before you need it. Take time to re-familiarise yourself with your system and its requirements.

(2) Don’t ignore PPM (Planned Preventative Maintenance)

Because prevention is better, and usually cheaper than cure. A planned programme of maintenance should keep your system in good working order and detect any potential issues before they become a problem.
Thorough maintenance includes: cleaning of your plant system to ensure each component is working efficiently. A qualified technician will be able to check carbon monoxide levels, pressure of the system and that there are no gas or water leaks and no components are working ineffectively, causing additional strain to the system. Maintenance doesn’t need to necessarily incur any business down-time and increases the life of your boiler system.

(3) Analyse the history of your boiler plant to inform actions to take

Spend time analysing data produced by your plant over last year’s season. Data can provide a valuable insight into performance, expected demands on the system, potential issues that could arise as well as providing an indication of how well the plant coped with changes in demand. Check for overall trends in performance to inform you of changes in efficiency in your system and any additional actions you may need to factor in to your contingency plan.

(4) Water treatment for Industrial and commercial hot water systems

Regular water treatment is an essential part of plant maintenance. Water treatment will prolong the life of the system and prevent boiler failure due to scaling, accumulation of sludge, corrosion or overheating. Keeping the water quality in an optimal condition will improve the efficiency of your system, reduce running costs, save energy as well as reducing the level of depreciation of a valuable business asset.

If in doubt, seek advice from a qualified engineer

If you have any doubts about your boiler, particularly about its safety, always contact a qualified engineer. Warning signs include:

  • A yellow flame instead of blue
  • Carbon/soot deposits around boiler
  • Excess condensation/water being produced
  • Strange odours
  • Strange sounds
  • Poor or fluctuating performance

Temporary and emergency boiler hire

In the event of commercial boiler breakdown you can avoid losing valuable business down-time by hiring a temporary or emergency boiler. Call Ideal Heat Solutions to discuss the right options for your business 01622 632 918.

Benefits for your organisation

  • Lower costs
  • Smooth running organisation
  • No stress of dealing with a breakdown
  • No business down-time
  • Peace of mind

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