Timely Maintenance
Why is maintenance important?
Why not let it work until it breaks and then fix it? The short answer is cost, but there is more to it.
Let’s say there is a car and oil change must be done once per year and the cost of the oil change is $150. Now imagine the maintenance is ignored and the car runs without any oil changes for 5 years. Total savings is $750 over 5 years, however the engine is now toast and needs replacement, which would in the end cost over a few thousand dollars. This dramatic example might be far-fetched but the math behind it is in fact, correct.
Now let’s look at a more realistic scenario — the car battery. It should be replaced every 5 years depending on quality and other factors. If the battery is not replaced, nothing dramatic will happen: simply one morning, when it is time to go to work, the car won’t start. At this point a call to work needs to be made, a replacement battery must be found and a couple of hours of pay are lost. Let’s say the new battery costs $150 and lasts for five years, which works out to $30 per year. By stretching the battery beyond its service life, you might save $30, but the trade-offs are far greater: wasted time, unexpected expenses, and the constant uncertainty — will the car start today?
Performing due diligence on maintenance saves money, time and more importantly, headaches. More over proper maintenance will extend the car’s life, instead of replacing the car every seven years, it can be changed every 10 or even 15 years. In this case, cost of maintenance will be a fraction of purchasing a new vehicle.
In other cases, proper maintenance becomes a safety issue. For example: UPS (uninterruptible power supply), which should have batteries changed over an average of every five years, can go on working beyond five years. However, at that point there is a risk of the battery pack swelling, seals breaking and the probability of a fire hazard. No one wants to wake up to the sound of a fire alarm and smoke.
What about waking up because a house is too cold or too warm? The typical forced-air HVAC system has a dust filter, which should be replaced every so often. Once the filter gets dirty, the electric fan must work harder in order to push air throughout the house. If the air filter gets clogged, the motor will work itself into burnout. At that point no more heating or cooling. If it’s summer season, perhaps staying at the house could be managed, but winter time is a lot more challenging and might lead to more serious consequences such as burst water pipes and more, all because of a $20 air filter, that should have been replaced on time.
Yet another no less important thing to keep an eye on is health. Modern medicine can perform miracles, something that was far-fetched just a decade ago, now is nothing to be worried about considering that it’s been caught on time. Yearly medical examination is just that: a timely check-up that might turn a life on a dime.
So why does maintenance matter so much? Yes, it will save you time and money. But it goes beyond that, it offers greater predictability, sustainability and more importantly peace of mind. Life is busy enough, let’s not run from one firefight to another.