Tips for Dealing with Temporary Closures
Many non-essential businesses are currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. If your business needs to remain closed for weeks or months on end, you may be wondering how to go about temporarily shutting down your business. It’s usually not best to completely shut off your HVAC system when leaving the building unoccupied. While you may think that this will increase your HVAC costs, leaving your system running on an unoccupied setting will help you better maintain your place of business. The HVAC system also won’t have to work as hard to reheat or cool your business when you decide to open again.
Use these shutdown tips to keep your business going strong during the pandemic.
How to Close Your Business During the Pandemic
It’s best to come up with a comprehensive strategy for closing down your business, including exact dates for how long your business should be closed, who will have access to the space during this time, and how you will continue to monitor the space either remotely or in-person.
If you plan on having someone come into the business from time to time during the shutdown. They should be on the lookout for any potential problems with the building, including drafts, leaks, moisture, condensation, and structural damage. They should also have access to the HVAC system settings, so they can adjust the controls while visiting the site. Create a schedule for monitoring your business during the shutdown as well as a timeline and checklist for reopening the space.
HVAC Settings and Tips for the Shutdown
It’s best to leave your HVAC system running during the shutdown. If you normally leave the machine set to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, turning it back to 65 degrees is not unreasonable. This will help you preserve your business during the shutdown, otherwise the entire area might get too hot, cold, or humid. It will take that much more energy to restart your business once the shutdown is over.
You will want to monitor and control your HVAC system remotely during the shutdown. If something goes wrong with your system, you should be notified immediately. Many modern buildings and HVAC systems come with what’s known as a Building Automated System (BAS), which will let you remotely control the settings on the system.
Get into the habit of checking the temperature inside your building on a regular basis. You should also be able to test the system remotely to make sure it’s still working properly.
If someone is coming into the space to work for a few yours, they should be able to override the BAS, so they can change the temperature during occupancy.
Your team should also have a contingency plan in place in case something goes wrong with your HVAC system, including how you plan on fixing the issue as well as how a change in temperature may affect your business. Do you have any temperature-sensitive inventory that may need to be moved?
Creating a plan for temporarily closing your business all depends on the nature of your business, how long you plan on being closed, and who’s going to monitor the space during the shutdown.
If you have questions about maintaining your HVAC system or business during the pandemic, contact the professionals at A-1 Guaranteed today. While our office is closed to the public, we are considered an essential business. We are happy to answer your questions over the phone or email. We are available to schedule no-contact visits to your home during the shutdown. Please contact us for more information.
