As a manager or business owner, you likely have several initiatives on your mind to keep your building, staff, and equipment taken care of to the best of your ability. Mechanical insulation is an often-overlooked system that contributes to many of your goals. If you don’t have a comprehensive mechanical insulation maintenance plan in place, you could be inadvertently reducing your profit margins as well as productivity. Let’s break it down.
What
Not to be confused with the pink, fluffy stuff you have in the walls and ceilings of your building envelope, mechanical insulation covers much of the equipment run in both commercial and industrial applications. The most common of these are piping, HVAC, boilers, and vessels. These areas often need to be temperature controlled, as well as presenting a host of other challenges such as noise pollution and energy loss.
Why
Within a few years of the initial installment, between 10% and 30% of all exposed mechanical insulation will be lost. Staying on top of maintenance offers a range of benefits, including, but not limited to:
- Reducing energy consumption and therefore greenhouse gas emissions.
- Controlling condensation; when left unchecked can lead to mould growth and other threats to personnel health and safety.
- Increase manufacturing productivity through improved equipment efficiency and an extended lifespan.
- Effective control of corrosion under insulation.
- In most cases, mechanical insulation offers a 100% return on investment annually.
Who
You may be asking yourself, that all sounds great, but who should be leading the charge on maintenance? We find the best way to ensure this important task is prioritized is to designate an insulation champion. Most buildings have someone assigned to champion certain initiatives, for example, recycling efforts. A person in charge of mechanical insulation will do the work to educate all departments to ensure best practices are being followed, as well as being the single point of contact for your chosen insulation contractors to come in and perform maintenance.
Know that you know what, why, and who, it’s your job to decide on “when”. The sooner you implement a mechanical insulation maintenance plan, the sooner you get to enjoy all of those benefits we talked about earlier. Don’t let another year go by with poor mechanical insulation, equipment breakdowns, and unnecessary energy consumption. Contact our experts at Westcal Insulation today and let’s get your facility back on the right track together!
