Should Your Company Rent or Buy Cooling Equipment for Facility Management?

Key Takeaways

• Facility cooling needs can fluctuate making the flexibility of renting invaluable.
• Renting eliminates maintenance burdens while providing guaranteed uptime through timely delivery and 24/7 technical support.
• Expert management of temporary cooling units helps optimize performance and prevent costly operational disruptions.
• While ownership suits facilities with consistent backup needs, renting offers better cost control and adaptability to changing requirements.

The Benefits of Renting vs. Buying Cooling Units

Rapid Response for Critical Operations

Cooling system interruptions can cascade into serious operational issues within hours. Take a hospital's imaging department, where MRI machines require precise temperature control. When primary cooling systems need maintenance or unexpectedly fail, every minute without proper cooling puts expensive equipment and patient schedules at risk. Similarly, data centers can face catastrophic consequences if cooling capacity isn't quickly restored.

Sunbelt Rentals can help turn these challenges into more manageable processes. Our extensive fleet of ready-to-deploy equipment and dedicated emergency response teams operate 24/7/365. These units are professionally maintained and strategically located throughout North America to provide rapid response times. We manage every aspect of the process, from the initial call to equipment operation, including delivery, installation, startup, and data and conditions monitoring. This allows your team to concentrate on other critical operations rather than struggling to deploy and start up equipment that may have been idle for months.

Strategic Maintenance Planning

Planned maintenance of a facility's HVAC system has its own set of challenges. Facilities may postpone necessary maintenance because they lack reliable temporary cooling equipment, which could lead to decreased system efficiency and an increased risk of failure. Others may rush through their maintenance windows, potentially missing critical issues because they can't maintain proper cooling for extended periods with their owned backup units.

Renting from Sunbelt Rentals eliminates these compromises. Whether you're performing quarterly preventive maintenance or major system upgrades, rental temporary cooling equipment ensures you can maintain proper environmental conditions without rushing the work. This helps not only protect your operations but also helps extend the life of your primary HVAC systems through proper maintenance.

Expert Support and 24/7 Service

Managing temporary cooling units effectively requires specialized knowledge that may go beyond typical operations for your facility's normal HVAC system. Proper sizing, placement, and optimization all impact performance and efficiency. Without dedicated HVAC expertise on staff, facility teams can struggle to maintain optimal conditions. Whether you're maintaining strict temperature control for sensitive manufacturing processes or managing precise humidity levels for occupant safety, having access to knowledgeable technical support can mean the difference between smooth operations and costly, unsafe disruptions.

Sunbelt Rentals can provide comprehensive technical support throughout your rental period. Our specialized, application-specific approach ensures you’re getting the equipment best suited to your needs. With years of experience and the highest safety standards in the industry, our HVAC-certified and trained technicians will get to know your facility, team, and needs to get the job done or, in the event of an emergency, reduce downtime and handle outages.

Cost Management and Resource Optimization 

The true cost of owning backup cooling equipment extends far beyond the initial purchase price. Regular maintenance, testing, repairs, storage space, and transportation all impact your bottom line. A single 120-ton air handler requires significant maintenance resources, storage space, and regular testing to ensure reliability. These expenses continue whether the equipment is actively used or sitting idle.

Sunbelt Rentals converts these variable costs into predictable operating expenses while eliminating maintenance burdens. Our transparent pricing includes all necessary services, from initial site assessment through white glove delivery service and equipment removal. We maintain detailed performance records and regularly update our fleet, helping facility managers quantify the benefits to justify rental expenses to any additional stakeholders.

Additionally, our equipment with telematics capabilities allows facility managers to monitor conditions remotely in real-time. This technology provides instant alerts about any performance issues, helping prevent costly downtime before problems escalate. The telematics systems also collect valuable data on equipment usage and capacity, enabling continuous optimization for maximum efficiency and cost savings — all without requiring your team to perform constant on-site monitoring

Renting from Sunbelt Rentals puts industry-leading cooling technology within reach of your facility's budget. We continuously update our fleet with the latest innovations so you can try them before you even think of buying. Our team can help you leverage these advanced features to optimize performance while avoiding the substantial costs of ownership.

When Buying Equipment Makes Sense

The decision to purchase cooling equipment is a long-term commitment. While renting offers clear advantages for most facility applications, certain situations justify equipment ownership. Having dedicated units on hand can streamline operations for facilities with standardized, continuous cooling requirements. Purchasing might also be more practical if you manage multiple facilities with constant environmental control needs, maintain critical operations in remote locations, or operate specialized processes requiring unique cooling parameters.

Facilities with a robust maintenance infrastructure, including dedicated HVAC technicians and comprehensive preventive maintenance programs, may find the investment into owned units worthwhile. For instance, a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility running 24/7 operations with stringent temperature requirements might justify owning permanent backup chillers due to the mission critical nature of their work. Similarly, remote data centers with limited access to rental providers may wish to maintain their own backup cooling systems for emergencies.

Facilities considering purchasing should carefully evaluate their:

• Annual cooling equipment utilization rates and load profiles
• Available maintenance resources and technical expertise
• Storage facilities and transportation capabilities
• Long-term operational requirements and growth plans
• Capital investment priorities and lifecycle costs
• Emergency response capabilities and redundancy needs 

Summary

The decision between renting and buying temporary cooling equipment impacts many aspects of your facility's operations, from daily reliability to long-term resource allocation. For most facilities, renting can provide the ideal combination of flexibility, expert support, and cost control needed to maintain optimal conditions while managing risk. Even organizations that own backup cooling equipment often find that supplementing with rental units helps them adapt to changing demands while maximizing their operational efficiency.

When evaluating your cooling equipment strategy, consider how your needs vary across seasons, facilities, and operational requirements. Think beyond the equipment itself to the entire support ecosystem required, from maintenance and monitoring to technical expertise and emergency response. Whether you're developing a comprehensive backup cooling plan, managing a major system upgrade, or need supplemental capacity for critical operations, Sunbelt Rentals delivers complete solutions tailored to your facility’s specific requirements. Our full-service approach to industrial and commercial cooling goes beyond equipment rental to include expert sizing, strategic placement, ongoing optimization, and 24/7 support.