Commercial rooftop units, kept running.

15 to 20 years is the realistic range for a Carrier, Trane, Lennox, or York packaged RTU in Northeast Ohio. Lake-effect snow load, salt air from I-80 corridors, and freeze-thaw cycles shorten the high end of that range. Maintained units (annual economizer commissioning, coil cleaning, belt and bearing service) consistently outlast neglected ones by 4-6 years.

If the unit is over 12 years old and the repair quote is more than 40% of replacement cost, replacement usually wins on lifetime cost. Newer RTUs run higher SEER2 ratings, often qualify for utility rebates, and let you spec a high-efficiency economizer that delivers real free cooling. We'll quote both side-by-side in writing so you can decide on the numbers, not on a pitch.

Because most don't. Industry surveys put non-functional economizers at 60-80% of installed units. The damper actuator fails, linkage seizes, the outdoor-air sensor drifts, or a controls update wipes the setpoint. A properly working economizer can deliver up to 20% of your cooling load for free on cool spring and fall days. We commission economizers as a stand-alone service or as part of every maintenance visit.

Yes, with the right equipment. Cold-climate inverter heat pump RTUs (Daikin Rebel, Carrier WeatherMaker with low-ambient kits, Lennox Strategos) hold capacity down to single digits and use gas or electric resistance as backup. For new construction or replacement on a building with cheap electric and tight envelope, the math often beats gas/electric. We model the load against your actual utility rates before we recommend.

Restaurants and retail with heavy foot traffic: every 30-60 days. Offices and light industrial: every 90 days. Multi-tenant buildings with a maintenance contract get filters on a fixed schedule so it stops being someone's forgotten task. Dirty filters drop airflow, force the compressor to short-cycle, and accelerate ECM motor failure - the most expensive non-compressor part on the unit.

Like-for-like swaps run on a one-day crane window so we hit the affected suite first thing and have cooling or heat back before close of business. Upsize or layout changes need curb-adapter fabrication and 1-2 weeks of lead time. We coordinate the property manager, the tenant, and the crane company so you're not the one juggling schedules. Bonded and insured for roof work, COI delivered before the lift.

Yes. Our commercial techs work on Carrier WeatherMaker, Trane Voyager and Precedent, Lennox Energence and Strategos, York commercial packaged, Daikin Applied Rebel, and Aaon. Parts pipeline established for the common-failure components on each. We also service older units from these brands - 20-year-old Carriers are still on plenty of NE Ohio roofs and most aren't ready to replace yet.