Question 1

What commercial HVAC equipment do you service?

Accepted Answer

Packaged rooftop units, split and ducted split systems, air-cooled and water-cooled chillers, VRF/VRV systems, make-up air units, exhaust and ventilation equipment, and the thermostats, controllers, and building automation systems that run them. We work on commercial and industrial equipment only — we do not run a residential line.

Question 2

How often should commercial HVAC equipment be serviced?

Accepted Answer

Most commercial equipment runs on a quarterly or semi-annual preventive maintenance cycle, with the heaviest work scheduled ahead of the cooling and heating seasons. Equipment in dusty, humid, or grease-laden environments — restaurants, manufacturing floors, distribution centers — usually needs a tighter interval, because coils and filters load up faster and a fouled condenser coil directly raises head pressure, energy use, and compressor wear.

Question 3

My rooftop unit is running but the space is still warm. What causes that?

Accepted Answer

A unit that runs without cooling is usually one of a short list: a dirty condenser or evaporator coil, low refrigerant charge from a leak, a failed or failing compressor, a stuck economizer pulling in hot outside air, a clogged filter bank starving airflow, or a control sequence and setpoint that no longer match how the space is used. Diagnosis is a measurement problem — superheat, subcooling, amp draw, and airflow — not a guess. Parts replaced without those readings tend to get replaced twice.

Question 4

Should I repair or replace an aging rooftop unit?

Accepted Answer

It depends on four things: the age of the unit relative to its expected service life, the cost of the repair against the cost of replacement, what the unit is costing you in energy every month it limps along, and what refrigerant it uses — equipment on a phased-down refrigerant gets progressively more expensive to keep charged. A proper recommendation comes after somebody looks at the unit, the loads, and the curb, not from a table.

Question 5

Do you work on building automation and controls?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A large share of comfort and energy complaints in commercial buildings are not mechanical failures — they are a sensor, a schedule, or a control sequence that drifted or was never right. We work on thermostats, unit controllers, sensors, and integration with building automation systems so equipment actually runs the sequence it was designed for.

Question 6

Do you handle installation and replacement, or only service?

Accepted Answer

Both. Installation and replacement work includes equipment selection against the actual load, evaluation of existing ductwork and electrical, curb adaptation for rooftop change-outs, refrigerant piping and controls tie-in, startup, and commissioning — so the new unit performs the way the selection assumed it would.

Question 7

What refrigeration equipment do you service?

Accepted Answer

Walk-in coolers and freezers, reach-in units, prep tables, open and closed display cases, ice machines, and parallel rack systems — plus the condensing units, evaporators, controls, and temperature monitoring attached to them.

Question 8

My walk-in is getting warm. How urgent is it?

Accepted Answer

Treat it as urgent. The FDA Food Code requires cold potentially-hazardous food to be held at 41°F or below, so once a box drifts above that line, product is on a clock — and it may have to be discarded regardless of whether the equipment eventually recovers. The equipment repair is usually the cheap part of a refrigeration failure; the inventory, the lost sales while a case is dark, and the health-department exposure are not.

Question 9

Why does a walk-in ice up or run warm?

Accepted Answer

The common causes are a failing defrost cycle (a bad timer, heater, or termination sensor letting the evaporator coil ice over until airflow stops), low refrigerant charge from a leak, a dirty condenser coil rejecting less heat, a door gasket or closer that no longer seals, or an evaporator fan motor that has quit. Icing is a symptom, not the fault — clearing the ice without finding the cause buys a few days.

Question 10

What is EPA Section 608 and how does it affect my facility?

Accepted Answer

EPA Section 608 of the Clean Air Act governs the handling of refrigerants. Technicians who service, maintain, or dispose of appliances containing regulated refrigerant must hold EPA 608 certification, and knowingly venting refrigerant to the atmosphere is prohibited. For facility owners, leak-rate thresholds and repair timelines apply to larger appliances, and recovery and disposal have to be handled and documented properly. Ask any contractor — including us — to confirm their technicians hold current 608 certification before work begins.

Question 11

Do you install temperature monitoring on refrigerated spaces?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Monitoring turns a refrigeration failure from something you discover in the morning into something you get alerted about while the product is still cold. Sensors and alarms on walk-ins, cases, and rack systems are part of the controls work we do.

Question 12

Do you work on parallel rack systems?

Accepted Answer

Yes — rack systems are core commercial refrigeration work. That covers the compressor rack, condenser, oil management, controls, and the case circuits it feeds. Rack work rewards a contractor who understands the whole circuit rather than treating each case as an isolated box.

Question 13

What areas do you serve?

Accepted Answer

Texas only, from three branches. East Texas is based in Longview and covers Longview, Tyler, Marshall, Kilgore, Lufkin, and Nacogdoches. The Houston branch covers Houston, Katy, Sugar Land, The Woodlands, Baytown, Pearland, and Conroe. The DFW branch covers Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Plano, Irving, Frisco, and Denton. If your facility sits just outside a listed city, contact us — work is dispatched from the nearest branch.

Question 14

Do you serve residential customers?

Accepted Answer

No. Buffalo Mechanical & Refrigeration is 100% commercial and industrial. Commercial rooftop equipment, chilled-water plants, rack refrigeration, and building controls are a different discipline from residential split systems, and the focus is deliberate.

Question 15

What industries do you work in?

Accepted Answer

Restaurants and food service, grocery and convenience, cold storage and distribution, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, healthcare, education, and commercial property management. If the equipment conditions a commercial space or holds product cold, it is in scope.

Question 16

How do I request service?

Accepted Answer

Use the contact form and tell us what equipment is involved, what it is doing, and where the facility is. Requests are routed to the Texas branch nearest you.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a commercial preventive maintenance (PM) program?

Commercial HVAC