A package unit swap on Granada Boulevard, from Monday's call to Wednesday's crane
Package units in Ormond Beach live on the roofs along Granada and Nova and on slabs beside older ranch homes. Here is what replacing one looks like now that the ratings and the refrigerant have both changed.
Monday, 7:40 a.m.: the call
Picture the owner of a storefront on Granada Boulevard calling before opening. The rooftop unit, a gas-electric package unit from the mid-2000s, has quit for the second time this month, and the last repair bought three weeks. Our dispatcher asks the questions that matter: how old, what fuel, is the roof walkable, is there a clear spot in the parking lot for a crane. By 10:30 a technician is up the ladder with a meter and a camera. The verdict is a compressor on its way out and a heat exchanger with rust from twenty summers of sea breeze. The owner gets the repair price and the replacement price side by side before lunch.
Monday afternoon: what changed since the last one went up
Two things make a package unit bought this year different from the one coming down. First, efficiency ratings moved to the SEER2 and EER2 test standard in 2023, and the minimum allowed in the Southeast rose with it. The new unit will be more efficient than the old one by law, not by option. Second, the industry has moved away from the R-410A refrigerant that filled the old unit to lower-global-warming refrigerants, which means new equipment, new service practices and no mixing between generations. Neither change is a reason to panic about a working unit. Both are reasons to buy the right thing once.
Tuesday: what we quote for Ormond Beach
For a flat-roofed business, we quote a Lennox package unit matched to the building’s load calculation, not to the tonnage on the old nameplate, because storefronts along Granada and Nova have changed tenants, windows and insulation since the 2000s. The configuration choices:
- Gas-electric, where Peoples Gas already feeds the roof. Gas heat for the few cold mornings, electric cooling for the rest.
- Heat pump package, for all-electric buildings and for the older slab-mounted residential units in Ormond Terrace and Rio Vista. One cabinet, both seasons.
- Straight cooling with electric heat, the simplest option for a space that barely heats.
Every unit for a coastal roof gets a coated coil and a hail-and-salt guard, because the breeze off the Halifax carries salt even on the mainland side of the bridge. Every slab unit on a street that flooded gets a stand.
Wednesday, 6:30 a.m.: the crane
The crane is in the lot before traffic builds on Granada. The old unit is disconnected, the refrigerant recovered, and the cabinet lifted off. The curb adapter, if the new footprint differs, goes on next; then the new unit is set, leveled and secured for wind, which on a flat roof three miles from the ocean is not a formality. Gas, power and condensate are reconnected, the thermostat is replaced with one that can actually run a two-stage unit, and the system is started and charged while the crane packs up. By the time the lunch crowd walks past the Birthplace of Speed Park two blocks away, the building is cold and the roof is clean.
After the crane leaves
A package unit on a roof is out of sight until it fails, which is how the last one got to the point of a Monday morning call. We set the first maintenance visit before the cooling season gets serious in March and the second before November, and we leave the owner with the filter schedule and a number to call that is answered around the clock. The crew drives in from our Palm Coast headquarters, 38 minutes up the interstate, and commercial service in Ormond Beach is dispatched the same way residential is. Call 866-266-5709.
Package unit questions from Ormond Beach owners
Is a package unit a worse buy than a split system for a small office?
Not for a flat-roofed building with no room for an air handler inside. The efficiency ceiling is a little lower than the best split systems, but the install is simpler and the roof is where the equipment already is. For a house with a garage, we would usually steer you to a split system.
What does the new refrigerant mean for the old unit I still have?
Nothing today. Your existing unit can still be serviced and charged with the refrigerant it was built for. It only matters when you replace, because the new units run on a different refrigerant and the two cannot be mixed.
Does the unit on my slab in Ormond Terrace need to go up on a stand?
If the yard held water in Ian or Milton, yes, and we will quote one. A package unit holds the compressor, the blower and the controls in one cabinet, so a few inches of water does more damage to it than to a split system’s outdoor unit.
How long is the roof closed to the business during a swap?
Usually one morning. The crane needs a clear spot in the lot, and the old unit comes down before the new one goes up. Most Granada Boulevard storefronts are back open with cold air by early afternoon.
Rooftop unit on its last summer?
Free estimate, crane included in the quote, no surprises on the roof.