Chiller Service in Clearwater, FL

Hospitals, malls and county buildings in Clearwater

The quotes below are what each owner says about its own property. This page makes no claim about who services the equipment in any of them, and none of them is offered as an example of Blume's work.

BayCare's page for Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, Florida says: “The 599-bed facility provides highly technical and specialized care to more than 50,000 patients annually and works in more than 50 specialty areas.” (source). Ask the owner of a hospital-scale plant how the chilled water is split between buildings, which loads must never lose cooling, and what the written plan is when a machine trips at night.

Countryside Mall's own page says: “This Clearwater mall has something for everyone with over 100 stores, family-friendly entertainment options, and numerous eateries!” (source). Ask a retail property manager how the plant is shared between the mall's common areas and its tenants, who pays for a repair to shared equipment, and who decides when the plant is shut down for work.

Pinellas County's page on its new government center says: “Our existing buildings in downtown Clearwater are aging and getting more expensive to maintain.” (source). The same page says: “Pinellas County will build a new government center near U.S. 19 and Ulmerton Road and move its headquarters from downtown Clearwater.” (source). Ask the owner of any building in the downtown core how old each chiller is, what it has cost to keep running, and what the decision point is between another repair and a replacement.

The permit path in Clearwater: city or county?

Pinellas County's page on building departments says: “If you are located in a city, contact the appropriate building department.” (source). Pinellas County's list of building departments gives Clearwater's as: “Clearwater 2741 State Road 580 Clearwater, FL 33761 (727) 562-4567 Inspections: (727) 287-3054 Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., early close Wednesday 2:30 p.m.” (source).

Ask that office, in writing, how a chiller replacement is classified and what drawings or equipment data it needs before it will issue the permit. Ask who submits the application and who books the inspections.

On choosing a contractor, the Pinellas County Contractor Licensing Department's page says: “Before hiring any contractor, ask for their name and license number, then use our Contractor Search feature to verify that they are eligible to work in Pinellas County.” (source). Keep a copy of the permit and the inspection record with the equipment file.

Rainy season and storm surge: what to ask

The National Weather Service Tampa Bay Area office's page says: “July through early September is when the rainy season peaks.” (source). Ask whether planned work on the plant has been placed before or after that stretch, and ask who watches the plant on the days when it matters most.

Ask whether anyone can say which evacuation zone the plant room is in; Pinellas County's flood information page says: “Evacuation zones are based on a property’s vulnerability to storm surge from a hurricane.” (source). Ask, too, where the electrical gear for each chiller sits, and what the plan is for shutting the plant down ahead of a storm and starting it again afterward.

What happens on a chiller service call

A call is easiest to compare with the last one when the record starts from the machine. Ask for the model, serial number, refrigerant, charge and controller to be copied from the nameplate onto the equipment record, and keep a photograph of the plate with it.

Ask the technician what was read at each point and what each reading was compared with: the previous visit, the nameplate or the controller's own history. Ask whether any alarm was cleared, and what was found behind it. See chiller maintenance service for what a routine visit covers, and the commercial chiller hub for links to the brand, service and city pages. For a fault that is already showing, see chiller repair; for a stopped plant, see emergency chiller service.

Questions before a chiller is replaced

Ask what the new machine is sized for and why, how the building will stay cooled during the changeover, and who is responsible for the pumps, the tower or coils and the controls around it. Ask for each of those answers in the proposal.

Blume prices a replacement option alongside repair, especially when a machine is close to its expected life. For the refrigerant questions see refrigerant transition, for spreading the cost see capital planning, and for the system-type question see chiller vs VRF. See chiller replacement for the longer list of questions, and temporary chiller rental for keeping the building cool in the meantime.

Chiller brands in Clearwater

Blume works on commercial chillers in Clearwater, in Pinellas County. Blume doesn't necessarily push one brand or another, and Blume has commercial accounts with Carrier, Trane and Daikin Applied. Each page below covers one manufacturer.

• See Carrier chiller service in Tampa Bay.
• See Trane chiller service in Tampa Bay.
• See Daikin chiller service in Tampa Bay.
• See York chiller service in Tampa Bay.
• See McQuay chiller service in Tampa Bay.

See commercial HVAC in Clearwater for the wider commercial picture.

Where to start

Call 727-330-9131 and describe the machine, what it cools and what it is doing. If you have the nameplate photograph and the last report, have them in front of you.

Unit converter