13 RTU’s in one day – Not bad!

Out with the old and in with the new — the Buffington crew changed out 13 RTUs in one day at this Orscheln Farm & Home store.

Thirteen rooftop units in a single day is a good day's work. It is also a useful illustration of what commercial HVAC replacement actually involves, and why the planning matters more than the lifting.

What a rooftop unit does

Most retail buildings, offices, and light-industrial spaces are conditioned by RTUs — packaged units that sit on the roof and handle heating, cooling, and ventilation in one cabinet, ducted down into the space below.

Larger buildings use several units, each serving a zone. That is why a store this size has thirteen rather than one big system: it allows different areas to be conditioned independently, and it means a single failure does not shut down the whole building.

Why the schedule is the hard part

A retail store cannot close for a week while its HVAC gets replaced. Neither can a restaurant, a clinic, or a warehouse holding temperature-sensitive inventory. The technical work is straightforward for a crew that does it regularly; the constraint is doing it without disrupting the business.

Doing thirteen in one day means the sequencing was worked out well beforehand:

• Curb compatibility settled in advance. New units rarely match the old footprint exactly. Adapter curbs get fabricated ahead of time — which is where having our own sheet metal shop matters, because a curb that does not fit on install day stops everything.
• Crane time coordinated. Old units come off and new ones go up by crane. That crane is scheduled, expensive, and shared across all thirteen lifts, so nothing can run late.
• Electrical and gas disconnects staged so each unit is ready when its turn comes.
• Weather watched closely. An open roof curb and rain do not mix. Each opening is closed the same day it is opened.
• Crew sized to the job. Thirteen units in a day is not one crew working fast; it is enough people working in parallel with a plan.

Signs a commercial system is near the end

Building owners often replace one failed unit at a time until they are calling monthly. Planned replacement is almost always cheaper and far less disruptive than reactive replacement. Worth watching for:

• Repair frequency climbing, especially compressor and control failures
• Parts becoming difficult to source for older equipment
• Units running constantly without holding setpoint on design days
• Rising energy costs with no change in occupancy or hours
• Comfort complaints concentrated in one zone
• Refrigerant top-offs becoming a routine line item

When several units are the same age, replacing them together usually costs less per unit than replacing them one at a time over several years — one mobilization, one crane, one project.

Commercial work is not a sideline for us

Buffington Brothers has done commercial installation and service for years alongside our residential work, and we fabricate our own ductwork and transitions in-house. We are a Carrier Factory Authorized Dealer with NATE and EPA certified technicians, serving Poplar Bluff and the surrounding Southeast Missouri and Northeast Arkansas region since 1951.

If you manage a building with aging rooftop units and want a realistic plan — including what can be done outside business hours — call (573) 785-6768.