Schedule Your Annual Boiler Inspection

Do you know the importance of boiler inspections?

As you may already know, if you have not routinely (annually) performed boiler maintenance, boiler breakdowns can cost thousands of dollars in equipment repairs as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage to property along with business income losses. Boiler failure can cause piping to freeze resulting in cracked pipes and water damage to your facility.

Regular boiler inspection is the law, most often governed by the state, but in some cases governed by municipality, city, and insurance companies. Inspections are done by certified inspectors, but the boilers are typically maintained and serviced by HVAC contractors such as Ahern.

Safety Issues and Building Damage

The majority of boiler failures are caused by malfunctioning operating controls, safety device malfunctions, operator error, poor maintenance, internal corrosion due to poor water quality, and external corrosion to the structure of the boiler. Therefore, properly functioning control, safety devices, and chemical treatment are absolutely essential for any boiler. Yet, the only way you can be confident is if the safeties are present and will work when necessary through routine maintenance. So, it is recommended that a building owner or facility management company regularly perform required boiler maintenance, testing, and inspection better known as, PMs (Preventive Maintenance) or proper tasking (inspections) on the equipment.

The last thing you want to experience is a boiler failure interrupting services to a facility, occupant injuries, and interruption of operations or processes. This can result in significant safety risks and income loss. Failure during peak heating season can result in a significant cost to repair damage to a facility, its systems, and its contents that exceed the cost of repairing or replacing a boiler. Proper and regular boiler inspections can, in many instances, help prevent situations like this.

Regular boiler inspections are also important for optimal function and energy efficiency. Boilers are high-energy users — typically second only to HVAC systems in annual energy use. Inefficient operation means wasted energy and increased operating costs due to loss in efficiency. Even as little as 3% in efficiency loss can be significant in operating costs over time.

Regular inspections can help extend the life of the pressure vessel (boiler). This is especially crucial when you consider that boilers are a major investment, costing upwards of $200,000 and more for large industrial models.

Boiler safety devices are designed to prevent dangerous conditions from turning into disasters, yet only proper maintenance prevents the dangerous operating conditions from developing in the first place. Maintenance requirements vary by boiler specifications and applications; however, all boilers require common maintenance activities.

It's important to remember that most problems don't occur suddenly. They develop slowly over a long period of time. So slowly, in fact, that maintenance personnel grow accustomed to the change without realizing it has taken place, such as corrosion slowly building up in the safety valve, or sediment collecting in the float chamber on the connection lines of the low water fuel cutoff device.

Maintaining a boiler is much like maintaining a car; do it regularly to optimize efficiency and performance. In addition to mandated inspections, it is important that you regularly observe and check on the status of a variety of components of the boiler, including pressure gauges, low water cut-off devices, thermometers, temperature controls, gauge glass, and pressure relief valves.

Contact Ahern today for your boiler device maintenance.

Reference: Kleva, S. (2009, January 01). The Importance of Boiler Inspections. Retrieved from http://contractingbusiness.com/service/importance-boiler-inspections