Why Boiler Maintenance Service is Vital for Saving on Building Expenses

Commercial or industrial boilers are some of the most expensive and valuable assets within a building. They are either pertinent to your manufacturing processes, or they provide warm air to comfort your building’s tenants during the colder months. If you own or operate a boiler, it’s vital to understand why investing in preventative boiler maintenance and regular service is essential to improving efficiencies and reducing operating costs.

It goes without saying that you rely on your boiler to either keep your clients, guests, and yourself warm throughout the winter months or to keep your process running smoothly all year. If the equipment isn’t performing its best, it will burn more fuel, driving up your bills. In 2018, the US consumed more energy than ever before. The US alone consumed 101.3 quadrillion dollars Btu (British Thermal Unit), which is up 4% from 2017. 

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Boiler Maintenance = Lower Costs

With the environment being a hot topic lately, more and more companies are focusing on what they can do to cut down on energy use and save money while they do it.

With the environment being a hot topic lately, more and more companies are focusing on what they can do to cut down on energy use and save money while they do it. Preventative boiler maintenance is just one way you can make an impact. This maintenance doesn’t just help the environment, though. You’ll also see the benefits in the form of financial savings and increased efficiency. Preventive maintenance is proactive in nature, this means it often takes a back seat to reactive maintenance issues that arise. It’s also easy for proactive maintenance to get lost in the busy day-to-day of a maintenance crew. In your next maintenance meeting, be sure to discuss the benefits of implementing and following through with a preventative plan for your boiler. Stress the importance of sticking to a schedule, even when other tasks seem as though they take precedence. Spending a little on maintenance now can save you from costly emergency repairs and stagnant downtime in the long run.

An easy way to keep your boiler at peak efficiency is to schedule routine tune-ups with your single-source maintenance provider. If not tuned regularly, your boiler will have to work harder to keep your building warm. This is one reason for the increase in costs and energy use your facility is likely facing during the cold winter months. To keep fuel and energy costs low while maximizing output, the boiler must be operating as efficiently as possible. Regular maintenance and routine inspections play an important role in spotting and correcting efficiency problems with the boiler. 

Rasmussen Mechanical Services Professional Tip: Whether you’re a tech or a manager, be sure everyone on your team is staying on top of your facility’s boiler logs. The ASME National Board states operators, management, and all involved parties play a part in keeping records up-to-date.

As noted above, when you have routine maintenance done on your boiler, you keep it running more efficiently. Regular care will allow the experienced technicians at Rasmussen Mechanical Services to fix minor problems before they turn into major ones. Failing to have routine maintenance performed will cost you more in the long run, leading to costly repairs or in some cases, a complete replacement.

Don’t forget the hidden cost of delayed maintenance: Outages. What is the loss of revenue to your organization if your process loses steam or your building loses heat? Regular maintenance will ensure your boiler is ready when you need it.

Rasmussen Mechanical Services Professional Tip: Not all emergencies can be prevented ahead of time, which is why we encourage our clients to consider contingency piping. When disaster strikes, your single-source mechanical services provider can hook up your rental unit quickly and get your facility back in business as soon as possible.

Avoid Costly Mistakes

Most boiler failures happen because of the same handful of mistakes or oversights made when operating them. Because they’re so similar, it’s pretty easy to ensure they don’t happen if you’re regularly maintaining them. Most malfunctions occur because of water cutoffs, operator error, poor maintenance, or corrosion. 

The only way to be 100% certain these things won’t happen is to ensure you’re maintaining your boiler correctly. Not only are you saving yourself and facility from significant issues, but you’re also saving energy and money, as well. If you skip a maintenance session or two, you’re not just risking higher energy costs. You’re risking a complete boiler shut down or replacement, and that’s going to cost way more than taking the time to maintain it properly. 

Get ahead of the curve when it comes to routine care by scheduling preventive maintenance into your staff’s weekly to-do list. By doing so, you’ll not only save money but increase the efficiency of your boiler. 

Rasmussen Mechanical Services Professional Tip: It’s no secret boiler rental isn’t cheap, so avoid rental expenses by providing preventive and routine care to your system. This boiler care will help you extend the life of your equipment, putting off the hefty expense of boiler replacement.

[Check out our tips for how to execute a proper boiler maintenance procedure. Learn more about our Boiler Logs and Boiler Maintenance Checklists.]

Keep Track of Your Boiler Maintenance 

To ensure your operators are maintaining your boilers correctly and regularly, keep a boiler maintenance checklist and log ready and available for your employees. Checklists provide continuous updates for facility managers and employees as boiler conditions change over time. Use the premade template of our checklist as a jumping-off point. Are there maintenance items specific to your facility you should be working on a daily, weekly, monthly, or annual basis? Add those to your checklist to ensure they’re completed regularly.

To help start your team on the right foot, we’ve compiled several of the must-have tasks into a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual list. You will, of course, know your facility better than anyone else, so add your necessary tasks to this list. Your checklist should include things like:

Daily Maintenance

  • Water Level Glass Gauge
  • LWCO and ALWCO Operation
  • Bottom Blowdown
  • Burner Refractory Cone
Monthly

  • Limit Controls Test
  • Flame Detection Test
  • Blowdown Separator Verification
  • Check Floor Drains
Weekly Maintenance

  • Linkages Check
  • Damper and Burner Condition
  • Valve Operation
  • Pilot and Igniter Condition
Annual

  • Verify and Tune-Up Burners
  • Inspect Fire Side for Soot
  • Hydro Test Boiler
  • Check Gas Regulator

[To get the full boiler maintenance list, check out our Boiler Maintenance Checklists and Logs.]

In addition to checklists and logs, make a point to reach out to local inspectors to ensure everything is up to code. The more you’re on top of inspections and maintenance, the safer your operations will be.

Boiler Maintenance Service for Safety

Routine boiler maintenance is critical for safety purposes. Your boiler burns fuel to heat water, that fuel must burn thoroughly, and the fumes must be appropriately vented to keep your employees and facility safe. If there are any problems with either fuel or fumes, deadly carbon monoxide could escape into your building.

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Not only are you risking carbon monoxide exposure, but you are also posing the risk of a potential fire to occur. If your safety devices are not clean and functional, your boiler could fail, causing a fire or pressure explosion like the boiler explosion at a box company in St. Louis back in 2017. The explosion resulted in three fatalities, one from the explosion itself and two from the crash landing on a nearby business. We test all your safety devices to ensure compliance and inspect the boiler to ensure it is clean and safe.

Boiler safety devices are meant to keep the boiler running smoothly and safely to prevent severe damage or injury to the machinery or the person operating it. Keep your facility in the clear by staying up-to-date on all boiler laws, maintenance, and safety measures. Plus, with such a high pressured piece of equipment, your employees will appreciate the added precautions your company has put in place to keep them safe.

At Rasmussen Mechanical Services, safety is a top concern. Not only can an accident injure or kill someone, but an accident can also cause destructive damage to the building. Regular boiler maintenance helps prevent related disasters from happening by safely detecting and correcting any possible issues before they lead to devastating accidents. According to OSHA, there were two reported boiler incidents in 2018 with one incident resulting in one fatality after being hit by a plate. Keep your employees’ safety in mind when performing maintenance tasks or seek professional help if your employees are not qualified. 

Whether your concern is safety, saving money, or wanting to prevent issues down the road, having a knowledgeable company service your boiler regularly will help you with all of these issues. At Rasmussen Mechanical Services, we know boilers. Our expert technicians keep efficiency, safety, and budget in mind during every project. 

Let Rasmussen Mechanical Services help you prolong the life of your boiler and work toward preventing expensive repair costs down the road. If you need our services, head over to our contact us page and send us a message! We will be in touch with you shortly. To view our other services and offerings, please visit our services page.

This article was originally published on November 15, 2017. It was updated on November 25, 2019.