Who insures chillers ? 1

[mxstar]

Does anyone out there know who, if anyone, insures chillers against breakdown etc.

In the same way that I pay motor insurance and expect a rental car should I be unlucky enough to be involved in an accident that takes my car off the road if I owned a large chiller I would expect eg a hire chiller should it breakdown and the people in the building or product start to overheat.

Thanks

 

[designbuild]

In the states there are usually a couple of routes to go.
Most manufacturers, Trane, Carrier, York have a rental division specifically for providing exactly what you are asking for. It isn't insurance per say but they do offer rental chillers, air handlers, pumps, tower, etc. In the states most of them are set up with regional warehouses such that they can have a rental unit up and running within 12 to 24 hours, sometimes even quicker. What is essential is that your building be set-up to seemlessly integrate the rental unit into the existing system. Available electrical connections and tie in points to the system are worth there weight in gold especially in a production environment. It doesn't do any good to be able to have a chiller on site in 6 hours and then have to wait another 24 hours paying people overtime installing temporary connections. It's much cheaper to get these things ready on the front end.
The other route is to work with one of the larger HVAC service companies (could also include the service arm of one of the manufacturers). They could provide more of the "insurance" by entering into a service agreement where they come and do annual, bi-annual, monthly, whatever is necessary service and inspections for a fixed cost. You can usually add to the agreement certain conditions for responding to unit failure and even include response times for installing rental equipment.
I am sure that actual monetary insurance is available to cover lost production should a chiller go down. But, from what I have seen redunancy and a close working relationship with a top notch service company will be what saves the day.

 

[mxstar]

Thanks for reply.

Both sensible routes. Especially the service inspection angle. Prevention is better than cure anyday. Do you find that one element of inspection offered by the larger HVAC service companies is sampling and analysis of refrigerant to check for evidence of moisture, acids, non-condensible gases etc. ?

 

[designbuild]

I find it is not so much any one element of service that the larger service companies provide that is important, it is the total package. A larger outfit is more likely to have more than one person trained to work with your specific machine, not just type (screw, centrifugal, etc) but brand and model (Trane RTAA), be better able to provide maintenance service at off hours (3rd shift etc), better able to respond in quick time frames, also don't forget that they may have better connections when it does come time to get a new or rental machine. The sampling of the refrigerant is definitely important but less so than the knowledge of the people doing the sampling. A smaller outfit can provide a lot of the same services but you usually end up relying on one person to do it all. That may be more than adaquate, it depends on your system. Just my two cents worth.

 

[vzeos]

mxstar,

Excellent advice by designbuild. I might add that it could be beneficial to purchase and stock critical spare parts that you may need to resolve a breakdown. Having spare parts on hand would allow your service contractor to expedite necessary repairs without the need to locate the replacement parts and have them shipped in from elsewhere. The chiller manufacturer should be more than happy to help you identify and provide any critical spare parts.

 

[stanlsimon]

Try HSB, (Hartford Steam Boiler) they advertise insurance for boilers and machinery.