The True Costs of HVAC Repairs in Retail Facilities and How to Avoid Surprises

When HVAC systems fail, the in-store environment, and your bottom line can get uncomfortable. A reliable climate is critical not just for customer satisfaction, but also for supporting employee performance and protecting merchandise, making unexpected breakdowns both expensive and disruptive for business owners and facility managers. 

Paying close attention to things like asset age, warranties, and life expectancy can be the difference between downtime and extra costs from an emergency repair or saving money and reputation by implementing preventative maintenance before things break. 

For retail brands, the most expensive assets to repair can include refrigeration, Point-of-Sale, lighting, and HVAC systems to name a few. Businesses that keep track of asset spend and have visibility into how much each asset type is costing them can prioritize opportunities for more effective sourcing and spend.

The average retailer goes through three to four HVAC repairs a year, which can take up to 13 days to resolve. This makes it critical for facility managers to have a preventive maintenance system (PM) in place, to minimize downtime and fix units as soon as possible. 

Summary of key metrics  

Average of 3.2 repairs every year, which can take over 7 days to resolve. 

Key metrics for HVAC systems

Warranty coverage can typically range from five years for compressors, and only one year for most other parts. To avoid unnecessary out-of-pocket costs, asset repairs can be automatically scheduled and routed to the warranty provider. 

With visibility into how often assets need repairs and comparing PM costs to their original value and remaining useful life, retail brands can make informed decisions about when to replace or schedule PM for equipment. 

This same asset reliability data can also be used for procurement to select reliable manufacturers with lower operating costs and faster completion times. 

All size segments

Wrap Up: Consider these questions about your asset management strategy 

Thriving retail brands know how crucial it is to take a step back and reevaluate their asset management processes. Ask yourself the questions below to gauge where you’re at and discover where there may be opportunities to gain more visibility in this area. 

• Which assets are costing us the most for repair and maintenance?
• What insights do we use to make proactive decisions about capital replacement?
• Which assets are most critical for our customer experience, and what does our data say about their reliability?

If you don’t have tools that give you access to datapoints that answer the above questions, it may be time to upgrade your facilities management program.