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Mar 26, 2024

Newberry County Council makes emergency HVAC purchase

Aug. 25—NEWBERRY — The Newberry County Council approved a $152,000 proposal for a new HVAC system for the courthouse during their meeting held on Wednesday, August 16. The the new commercial chiller

Aug. 25—NEWBERRY — The Newberry County Council approved a $152,000 proposal for a new HVAC system for the courthouse during their meeting held on Wednesday, August 16.

The the new commercial chiller from Hoffman Mechanical is an emergency purchase due to the state that the current system is in and the amount of time that it would take to buy, vote for and install a new one. By the time that's said and done, the current system could fall completely apart.

With the high volume of daily traffic the courthouse sees, it would be impossible to function over the summer without one. If the current system were to fail or become nonoperational, all employees and business held in the courthouse would need to be moved to another building that could accommodate them.

The current system has just passed its 20 year life expectancy, being installed back in March of 2002 and its age has begun to show. Between repairs to compressors, fans motors, circuit boards, valves and present leaks in the system and the availability of the older parts to repair aforementioned problems, the HVAC system has become more expensive to fix than it would to buy a new system.

The benefits of a new unit would be a warranty that would help cover any costs of repair, which would be cheaper with modernized parts. The new system would also come at a lower electric cost than the current.

The new chiller is projected to begin instillation at the start of the year, finishing up just before the summer sometime around March 0f 2024.

Reach Orion Griffin @ 803-768-3122 or on Twitter @TheNBOnews.