Southeast winters aren’t defined by blizzards. They’re defined by unpredictability. One day it’s 85°F and humid, the next it’s 40°F and heading towards freezing.
For facility managers, this means that a cold snap can come on quickly, requiring immediate, reliable heating performance. Just as fast, they may need to cool spaces down.
Most facility managers wait until the first cold snap to test their heating. By then, it’s too late. Small inefficiencies that went unnoticed in summer can cause catastrophic failures when the system switches modes.
That’s because reliability isn’t luck. It’s engineered through proactive maintenance that prevents costly surprises.
The High Performance Winter Checklist
Just like your own personal health and well-being, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
That’s why we are committed to a proactive approach to keeping your facility operating at peak efficiency, no matter what the forecast holds.
Here are the five critical areas your maintenance team needs to address before the temperatures dip.
#1 Change Air Filters and Assess MERV Ratings
Changing air filters may sound basic, but neglecting this step can lead to higher costs, poor air quality, and preventable system failures.
Furthermore, with winter coinciding with flu season, maintaining clean air is vital for occupant health.
A trained Thermal Concepts technician can evaluate your system’s static pressure capabilities and recommend the highest possible MERV rating that filters contaminants without choking the system’s performance.
#2 Conduct Pre-Season Testing
The right time to try out your heating system isn’t when the cold weather finally forces you to push the button. Test your heating equipment before the first cold snap. Boilers, furnaces, and heat pumps should all be run and inspected early to avoid emergency repairs.
Even if you discover that it doesn’t work as planned, you still have time to schedule maintenance before a cold snap turns an inconvenience into a crisis.
Emergency repairs are significantly more expensive and inconvenient than scheduled maintenance. Fire up your system now to get ahead of the cold weather and any necessary maintenance.
#3 Clear Debris and Clean Your Coils
Your coils must be free of debris, dirt, and biological growth to facilitate proper heat transfer. In coastal regions like Florida and Georgia, salt accumulation can also accelerate corrosion if left unchecked.
The performance and efficiency gains from a clean system are well worth the effort. One study found that cleaning reduced fan and blow energy consumption by up to 60 percent while increasing supply airflow by up to 46 percent.
Our maintenance teams use specialized chemical solutions to strip away grime and salt deposits, restoring the coil’s surface area to its original efficiency and extending the equipment’s lifespan.
#4 Calibrate Thermostats and Verify Building Controls
Your Building Automation System (BAS) and thermostats act as the central nervous system of your facility.
If they collect or misinterpret data, the entire system suffers.
It’s easy to forget that BAS systems are not “set it and forget it” solutions. They require regular monitoring and fine-tuning to ensure continued peak performance.
Over time, sensors can drift, providing less precise readings that force the system to work much harder than it should.
Additionally, winter brings different occupancy patterns (such as holiday shutdowns) that require updated scheduling logic.
A Thermal Concepts controls specialist will rigorously test and recalibrate your zone sensors to ensure true-to-value readings and optimize your BAS sequences to align with actual winter usage.
#5 Clearing and Treating Condensate Drain Lines
Even in winter, humidity control remains active in the Southeast, so your system is still producing condensate that needs to drain.
Over the summer, algae, sludge, and sediment likely accumulated in the drain pans and lines. This material can dry out and harden during a cold snap, creating blockages that can lead to interior water damage.
Technicians can clean these drain lines, clear the p-traps, and treat the pans with biocide tablets to prevent future growth and ensure that water flows out of your building, not into your ceiling.
Winter Ready Right Now
Winter is coming, and you need your building ready when it arrives.
Performing essential winter maintenance provides peace of mind (and makes budget sense!) that your building’s HVAC is ready for whatever winter will bring.
Don’t cross your fingers and hope your HVAC unit is up to the task.
Contact Thermal Concepts today to create a custom maintenance plan that ensures it’s ready for winter.
