Author: MaintenX

Smart Thermostat Benefits

What is a Smart Thermostat, Anyway?

Regular thermostats let you adjust the temperature in your home, functioning as simple control panels for your HVAC system. What makes smart thermostats “smart” is that they learn from your behavior, allow you to control temperatures remotely via smartphones and computers, display your energy consumption, and can regulate themselves when you’re away. Here are just a few of the benefits of smart thermostats.

Cost Savings

Heating and cooling account for nearly half of your home’s energy costs! A smart thermostat offers greater control over your home’s temperature and climate, and smart automation that could save you a bundle on your energy bill.

Keep an Eye on the House while you’re Away

A smart thermostat can also be a way to monitor things in your home when you’re not home. Most smart thermostats come with a companion app for your smartphone, so you can track conditions in real time. You can also change settings or turn the system off remotely with the touch of a button. This means that with the right system, you can make your home life more convenient and affordable.

Set It and Forget It!

Most smart thermostats are very simple to set up and program, owing to their simple-to-understand user interfaces and seamlessly designed companion apps.

For these reasons and more, it’s worth considering a smart thermostat for your home or business.

If you’d like to know more about the benefits of smart thermostats, call MaintenX!

Tips to Keep Your Employees Safe During Winter

Working in cold conditions isn’t just uncomfortable, it can also be quite unsafe. Frostbite, numbness, dehydration, and hypothermia are very real dangers and should be taken seriously. If you or your employees are performing work tasks outdoors during the winter, be aware of the dangers and follow these tips.

Dress for the Weather

Workers should avoid exposure to extreme cold whenever they can. When they must confront the cold, follow these clothing recommendations:

  • Wear multiple layers of loose clothing.
  • Remember that some clothing can hinder movement and result in an accident.
  • Wear waterproof, insulated, slip-resistant shoes.
  • Wear a hat.
  • Wear insulated gloves or mittens whenever possible.
  • Always wear socks in cold weather. High wool socks are best at trapping heat in cold conditions. Avoid socks that limit circulation.

Potential Hazards

Frostbite and hypothermia can develop from overexposure to cold. If you suspect either, get medical attention immediately.

Warning Signs:

Hypothermia 

  • Shivering
  • Lack of coordination
  • Drowsiness
  • Slurred speech

Frostbite

  • Cold skin that turns numb
  • Blisters or swelling
  • Joint stiffness

Cold weather is a normal event, so it is easy for workers to forget that it can be very dangerous if not properly prepared for. Make sure to take into account these cold weather safety tips while working in winter conditions to protect yourself and your employees against the elements.

To learn more about winter safety precautions, contact MaintenX today.

Preparing your Building for Snow and Ice

Keeping track of facility maintenance problems can be a real headache—especially if you have multiple buildings to maintain. That’s why having a solid maintenance plan for each season can be a lifeline for facility managers and business owners.

The safety and security of your occupants is certainly an important issue, but as facility management evolves, it is getting much easier to track and maintain the status of buildings year-round. Here are some tips to prepare your facility for the winter months:

Think Ahead

 As a facility manager, it’s vital to have an emergency plan in place and on paper and to train your employees on how to enact it. This should include preventive measures and procedures, as well as a list of critical shut-off locations for utilities, such as:

  • water
  • electrical mains
  • emergency generators
  • fire protection systems

Preventive Maintenance

 Ensure that your facility’s water heater and HVAC systems inspected and maintained on a regular basis. These systems must work especially hard during the winter and summer.

Clear Walkways

 Always keep walkways clear of snow and ice. You can use salt, chemical pellets, or sand. It’s always a smart idea to put out caution signs when needed.

Emergency Generators

 Check the fuel oil supply for your emergency generators in case of an outage. Also, make sure to maintain and inspect your generators on the schedule recommended by their manufacturer.

For more information on preparing your office building or facility for a snowstorm or winter weather, please contact MaintenX.

What is Resilient Flooring?

Need a long-lasting, water-resistant flooring material for your business? Resilient flooring might be right for you.

What is Resilient Flooring?

Resilient flooring is made of both natural and synthetic materials – generally a composite of polymer materials. Polymers have very large molecules, which increase strength, durability, and lifespan of floors.

Types of Resilient Flooring

  • Vinyl: The most popular option on the market today, this type of flooring comes in three varieties: Vinyl Composition Tile, Solid Vinyl Tile, and Luxury Vinyl Tile.
  • Linoleum: This option is a natural product built with linseed oil, wood, limestone, cork, and resins.
  • Cork: This organic material is made of thinly sliced tree cork and is a popular option for eco-friendly builders and homeowners.
  • Rubber: This type of flooring is produced from synthetic rubbers. It is commonly used in homes, gyms, and dance studios because of its impact absorption qualities.
  • Polymeric Poured Seamless Floors: Seldom found in homes, this type of flooring begins as a liquid is poured out to form a hard surface after curing. It is frequently used in manufacturing and industrial settings.

Maintenance

Resilient flooring and non-resilient flooring don’t just differ in price, but also in their respective maintenance needs. While hard surfaces are frequently more expensive than resilient flooring, resilient flooring is easier to maintain and is more cheaply replaced.

Want to know more about resilient flooring? Call MaintenX today!

Types of Building Sensors that can Improve Your Facilities

It’s an exciting, innovative time in the world of smart technology and the Internet of Things. Commercial buildings and homes alike are experiencing a technological revolution in how they operate and are becoming smarter and smarter by the minute.

But what makes a building “smart”? Put simply, automated systems in homes and companies:

  • reduce operational expenses
  • save energy
  • enhance space allocation
  • increase safety and security
  • improve comfort

You can think of sensors as the ‘sense organs’ of the building which allow it to take in information about the things happening within and outside it. Just like a living thing, a  building’s sensors give it the data it needs to react appropriately.

Here are some examples of the sensors now available:

  • Accelerometers
  • Air Quality
  • Atmospheric Pressure
  • Biometric
  • Electrical
  • Fluid Flow
  • Humidity
  • Imaging
  • Light
  • Magnetometers
  • Motion Detectors
  • Occupancy Detection
  • Air Pressure
  • Radiation
  • Sound
  • Temperature
  • Vibration

Energy Efficiency

By counting the number of occupants in a given space, HVAC systems can be optimized to save energy and money. Integrating sensors into lighting fixtures allows property managers a new understanding of energy management by allowing them to track lighting usage and observe trends and problem areas in energy consumption.

A smart, well-connected sensor array can automatically monitor any conditions you require and substantially boost performance in the residential, public or commercial facilities, including:

  • Hotels
  • Office buildings
  • Airports
  • Train stations
  • Libraries
  • Sport stadiums
  • Schools
  • Government buildings

Sensor-based smart facilities make life easier for facility managers while helping a business’s bottom line.

Want to know more about smart buildings? Call MaintenX today!

Benefits of Smart Facilities

Smart facilities work by integrating the Internet of Things into the workplace to address questions of inefficiency. Inside a smart facility, all the internal systems are interconnected and respond to one another. Everything from the HVAC system to the security system to the lighting is tracked by a central hub. That information is shared among systems and made available to property managers in real time.

What are the Benefits of a Smart Facility?

By using an array of sensors (tracking things like temperature, electricity use, motion sensing and tracking, heat sources, security breaches, and electrical malfunctions), data is gathered on how the building is used over time, and adjustments are made accordingly. This allows a smart facility to perform better, more efficiently, more cheaply.

Better Efficiency

One of the most important benefits of smart facilities is its ability to optimize energy usage. For most businesses and homes, energy use is the single largest facilities expense. To increase the energy efficiency of your facility, you must monitor use, access its systems, and control its parameters. To continue to be energy efficient, a smart facility must constantly monitor its energy usage. This ensures that use is optimized to the schedules and habits of the people and operations that inhabit it. A smart facility is engineered to boost energy efficiency, irrespective of external or internal factors. This is a powerful and cost-saving approach to automating and streamlining your building’s functions.

Want to learn more about how a smart facility can increase your business’s efficiency while lowering costs? Contact MaintenX today!

Tips for Protecting Against Flood Damage

 

Water damage is becoming progressively more common, and it’s one of the reasons why home insurance rates have risen in recent years. Weather is increasingly unpredictable, but you can still take precautions to make sure you don’t fall victim to flood damage.

Protect Electrical and HVAC Systems

Switches, sockets, circuit breakers, wiring, and other electrical equipment should always be at least a foot above the anticipated flood level.

Extra Protection for Exterior Walls

Your property can be severely damaged if water reaches the interior. To protect your building from flooding, consider adding a waterproof veneer to the exterior walls of your property. This veneer typically has a layer of brick covered with a waterproof material.

Last-Minute Safeguards

If you don’t have much time, complete these tasks to minimize water damage to your property:

  • Clear gutters, drains, and downspouts
  • Move furniture, rugs, electronics, and other belongings to upper floors, or elevate them using waterproof risers
  • Shut off electricity at the breaker

HVAC Equipment and Appliances

Flooding can also damage your air conditioning units, so make sure HVAC equipment is installed above potential water levels.

Washers and dryers, particularly those located in a basement or on the first floor, should be placed above the potential water level.

With climate change increases, the probability of severe weather, hurricanes, floods, windstorms, tornadoes, and wildfires are becoming risks in areas where they were not before. Protecting your home from natural disaster damage is more important now than ever, so make sure you’re prepared for potential risks.

Want to know more about how you can safeguard your property from flood damage? Contact MaintenX today!

Tips for Protecting Against Wind Damage

Storms can cause high winds, damaging everything in their path. Property owners and managers tend to reinforce their properties in anticipation of a big storm. But there are other ways you can protect your property, ensuring bad weather doesn’t destroy your valuable investment.

Wind Damage

Focus first on the weakest and most at-risk parts of your property. These might include places like:

  • Windows
  • Roofing
  • Siding
  • Doors
  • Garage Doors
  • Awnings

Potential Risks

Before the wind picks up, check the boundaries of your property and make note of any potential risks. This can include things like:

  • Unsecured garage Doors
  • Loose branches
  • Crumbling roof shingles
  • Broken siding
  • Loose shingles
  • Peeling outdoor paint

Make any necessary repairs to reduce further damage from wind or rain.

Fortify Your Roof

Make sure that your roof is strong enough to survive a wind storm. If possible, roof trusses should have ample bracing to prevent loosening.

Remove Trees and Tree Limbs near your Property

Ensure that trees and limbs are far enough away from your property to prevent potential damage if they fall. As a general rule of thumb, make sure your trees are farther away from the home than the height of the tree.

Anchor Any Would-Be Projectiles

If possible, anchor mobile storage sheds and outbuildings with a permanent concrete foundation. Secure small objects around your property (grills, patio furniture, fire pits, etc.) by bolting them to your decks or patios. Move any smaller items into your home to safeguard them from being damaged or damaging your property.

Want to know more about how you can protect your property from wind and storms? Call MaintenX today!

How to Utilize Plants in your Office Space

Adding plants to the office can create a welcoming atmosphere in the workplace. But aesthetics aren’t the only reason to bring more greenery to your office. Here are just a few of the benefits of adding plants to your work environment:

More Comfortable Spaces

The suggested humidity for optimal health and comfort is about 30-60 percent, but a lot of work environments don’t even come close to these numbers. Low humidity in the workplace can increase tiredness and cause respiratory problems, leading to a substantial drop in office morale. What to do about this problem? Add some plants! There are many types of plants suitable for office environments. And the added greenery will increase humidity, increase oxygen levels, and boost morale by improving the look and feel of your workplace.

Plants Good For The Office:

Not all plants are good options for the office. Consider things like the amount of natural light provided throughout the day, how often they require watering, and how often they may need to be repotted. Here are a few great options for indoor spaces:

Orchids 

There is some evidence that orchids offer stress relief because of the soothing smells they produce—and if not, they still smell great! Orchids also naturally reduce toxins in the air. They can, however, be a bit tricky to keep healthy. Make sure your office fits the light, humidity, and temperature requirements for orchids to thrive.

English Ivy

English Ivy plants can help in stuffy offices with bad ventilation. They also have a curious knack for removing ammoniac and other odors from the air. You might be able to think of the perfect room for this plant!

Pothos

Pothos, or Devil’s Ivy, is a useful, no-fuss option for the office. Easy to care for, inexpensive, and low-light tolerant, it’s great for beginners. If you want something a little understated, the soft, heart-shaped leaves of the Pothos may just fit the bill.

Whatever plants you choose for your office, as long as you maintain them you’re sure to see benefits to both morale and air quality!

What is Energy Infrastructure Resilience?

New physical and financial threats are posing ever-growing problems to the energy sector – and negatively affecting the world economy in the process.

Reliable infrastructure is the foundation of a thriving economy, allowing for timely and safe production and delivery of vital goods and services to all sectors. When infrastructure fails, the entire system is disrupted, but the consequences of energy infrastructure failure can be especially devastating.

All over the world, climate change represents the greatest threat to communities and the energy and economic infrastructure they rely on. Some examples of these threats include:

  • extreme heat
  • stronger storms
  • more intense and longer-lasting droughts
  • more frequent wildfires
  • sea level rise and attendant flooding

Extreme weather conditions affect all parts of the United States, from hurricanes in Puerto Rico to tornadoes in Oklahoma, exacting terrible humanitarian and monetary costs.

What is Energy Infrastructure Resilience?

 Energy infrastructure resilience’s goal is to mitigate the risks posed by climate change and ensure the stability of energy infrastructure in the face of these growing threats.

Some of these methods include:

Energy Storage

 This increasingly important technology seeks to store more power in smaller vessels. This can help communities whose generation capacity is disrupted, and save lives in hospitals, nursing homes, and more.

Home Green Power Generation

If you have solar panels or a wind turbine on your roof, you have less to fear from your power lines going down.

Undergrounding of Power Transmission

While electrical poles can be blown down, and debris can fall on lines, underground wires are much less vulnerable to most natural disasters.

The best way to prepare for the increased risk of natural disaster is for countries to develop thorough emergency preparedness plans and implement them quickly when needed. Planning ahead will give us the best chance of retaining our energy infrastructure in the face of a world with increasingly hot and extreme weather.