This weekend was hot in Texas! I had out-of-town guests arriving so of course my two-year-old AC compressor decided to quit just as they arrived.
As things heated up, I went outside to troubleshoot. After about 45 minutes, I narrowed it down to a bad capacitor. Luckily, I had a spare one from a repair I did at an old house. I put in the new capacitor, turned the breaker back on, and heard the satisfying hum of the compressor doing its job.
After putting my tools away, I walked back into the house to cheers and applause for getting the cold air blowing again.
I had just performed what is called “Hero Maintenance” and it felt good!
Hero (reactive) Maintenance happens every day in the facilities management space. When there is no data to drive decisions, you just end up reacting to events. When all you can do is react, there is no time for proper maintenance and planning. It’s a vicious circle that leads to higher costs, increased downtime, and decreased reliability for systems across a building or real estate portfolio. The personally rewarding nature of Hero Maintenance makes it difficult for those doing it to stop. After all, no one gets a pat on the back for a piece of equipment NOT going down.
While back in the AC, I remembered that I replaced the same brand capacitor in the same brand unit at a previous home. That limited amount of data tells me that the capacitors in these units fail early and should probably be replaced. So, I’ll be proactively replacing the capacitor in my other AC unit this weekend.
The very limited amount of data from my personal experiences helped me make a decision that will eliminate downtime on my other AC unit, save me time and prevent another unscheduled repair.
Large facilities have hundreds of assets all producing valuable data that is far too great for anyone to keep track of or analyze. If you’re able to use that data and make better decisions, you will stop putting out fires and start finding more time to invest in proper maintenance activities that are proactive rather than reactive.
At Kterio, our mission is to Digitally Transform how we interact with buildings and building systems using data. We help facilities break the cycle and move from reactive “Hero” maintenance to predictive and prescriptive maintenance using the data your assets are already generating. This allows facilities management teams to focus on tasks that decrease energy and operational costs and significantly increase the useful life of building systems.
Learn more about how a data-driven approach to facilities management can generate a rapid return on investment for buildings and real estate portfolios.
https://lnkd.in/gekkPZ6U
