The persistent heat and unrelenting humidity of central Florida means that air conditioning units can run nonstop the entire year. No one wants the air conditioning turned off for maintenance, but a broken unit is even worse. For HVAC contractors like Kalos Services in Clermont, Florida, trying to service air conditioning units quickly and efficiently with the least disruption to the customer are top priorities.

In addition to customer inconvenience of unit downtime, cleaning air conditioning units in an occupied building has other challenges. Spray from the cleaning water has to be kept away from walls, carpet, computers or other belongings and unpleasant chemical odors need to be managed. “We’re finding that more and more customers are sensitive to chemical odors inside the buildings. People want to know if the chemicals we use to clean coils are bad for their health or the environment,” a Kalos spokesperson said.

Some customers are so sensitive to even basic coil cleaning products, that Kalos began the search for a more friendly, but still effective cleaner. One option was to use a traditional cleaner but heavily ventilate the area and force occupants to leave while the service was performed. Certainly not ideal. Other options, like weakening the chemicals used proved too weak or ineffective to be good solutions. Sometimes the only option was to removed components entirely from the building adding expensive labor times to what should be straightforward maintenance work.

“No one was benefitting from cleaning this way. The occupant’s work was being interrupted, the technicians felt like they were bothering the customers, and the coils were not getting as clean as we wanted.” To help reduce downtime and customer distraction during air conditioning maintenance, Kalos Services turned to SpeedClean for help.

After reviewing several potential options, SpeedClean recommended their Dry Steam Coil & Surface Cleaner to solve Kalos’ coil maintenance problems. The steam cleaner uses an advanced technology to produce “dry” steam, which is basically a superheated steam that has low moisture levels (under 10%) and powerful cleaning and sanitation characteristics – all without chemicals. With dry steam, contractors can clean coils quickly and with less mess than typical water cleaning methods, saving unit downtime, reducing customer inconvenience and reducing the risk of damage to customer property. The lightweight and portable unit is also easy to move around to different locations and perfect for places without water access, making the tech’s job easier. Not to mention it is sustainable, using a minimal amount of water.

Cleaning air conditioning coils with dry steam has benefits that standard water and chemical cleaning cannot provide. Like conventional water cleaning, steam cleans away the dust and grime that collects on air conditioning coils, but without the water runoff, chemicals or overspray. The 70 PSI steam pressure gets deep into the coils to push out debris from months or even years of neglected maintenance. Bacteria and molds growing on wet coils create a stale and moldy smell in the building, but the dry steam’s high temperature kills the bacteria and sanitizes the coils so the air from the unit smells fresh. Plus, dry steam has fantastic degreasing properties, melting aways grease and grime.

Because steam can clean, degrease and sanitize without chemicals, the Dry Steam Coil & Surface Cleaner works especially well in restaurants and around food. Kalos Service received excellent feedback from their restaurant customers who use steam instead of chemicals in their kitchen units. Kalos Service said their company “would refer others to use it because it solves real issues related to chemical sensitivities and food safety. Food safety and water damage can be big obstacles in many real-life applications in the HVAC/R trade.”

Kalos Services found other areas besides coil cleaning to use the Dry Steam Coil & Surface Cleaner like ductless cleaning and even for defrosting coils. “When we go to a service call and find coils frozen up, the conventional method of thawing the coil is to either let it just warm up naturally or keep pouring warm water until the ice melts. Our technicians found that coils defrost much faster without a lot of water waste and mess and they can quickly make the needed repair to get the cooling turned back on.”

Cleaning coils in occupied buildings is a challenge for every HVAC contractor. Working with customers who are sensitive to chemicals or where there is a risk for water damage makes it hard to get the job done. SpeedClean’s partnership with Kalos Services models how contractors and vendors can work together for solutions to difficult cleaning and maintenance jobs. What maintenance challenge is your business facing? Let SpeedClean’s team of professionals help you find the right solution to take your business to the next level.

View a pdf of this testimonial here.