The short answer
A rooftop unit in coastal heat should be serviced on a schedule — quarterly is common where downtime is expensive — with filters, belts, coils, drains, electrical parts and the economizer checked each visit. Planned maintenance costs less than an emergency call on a July afternoon with the building full.
Why does a rooftop unit need more attention than a house system?
A packaged rooftop unit runs long hours for a building full of people, lights and equipment, sitting in full sun and salt air on a roof nobody looks at. It has parts a house system usually does not — belts, economizers, often a gas heating section in the same cabinet — and when it stops, the cost is not only the repair but the business lost while the space is too hot to use.
What should a preventive maintenance visit cover?
- Filters changed, at an interval set by the building rather than the calendar
- Belts and pulleys checked for wear, alignment and tension
- Condenser and evaporator coils inspected and cleaned
- Condensate drain and pan cleared — a blocked one leaks through the roof
- Contactors, capacitors and electrical connections checked and tightened
- Refrigerant pressures and temperatures read
- Economizer and dampers checked for free movement and correct control
- The heating section tested before the season: burners, heat exchanger or electric heat
- Panels and the roof curb secured — which matters before a storm
How often does a unit need servicing?
Quarterly is a common schedule for businesses that cannot afford downtime; lighter-use buildings may do well on two visits a year. Restaurants and dusty sites often need filters changed more often than the visit schedule, and a good agreement sets that interval per unit.
What does commercial maintenance cost?
- One-time RTU maintenance — From $249 / unit
- Quarterly preventive maintenance, one RTU — From $699/year
- Coil cleaning — From $249 / unit
- Belt and filter service — From $149 / unit
- Commercial diagnostic — From $185
- After-hours commercial diagnostic — From $285
Multiple units, larger systems and major repairs are quoted after a site visit.
When is replacement the better spend?
When repairs are clustering on an aging unit, when the compressor or a coil fails, or when the unit still runs on R-22, which is no longer produced. Replacement is also easier to plan than to rush: done off-season, with the crane, curb adapter and permit arranged in advance, it can be scheduled around the business rather than forced on it by a failure.
Commercial RTU replacement starts at $8,000+.
What should a maintenance agreement spell out?
- How many visits a year, and exactly what each one covers
- Filter sizes and change intervals for every unit
- What is reported after each visit, unit by unit
- How repairs found during a visit are priced and approved
Also asked.
- How often should commercial HVAC filters be changed?
- As often as the building needs — which in a restaurant or a dusty workspace can be monthly. The maintenance visit schedule and the filter schedule do not have to be the same, and a good agreement sets both per unit.
- Do you service rooftop units you did not install?
- Yes. Repairs and maintenance are not limited to one brand; whatever make is on the roof, it can be diagnosed and maintained.