3 Critical Things You Must Consider Before Buying HDTV for Your Bar or Restaurant
Today over 70% of homes have a high definition, flat panel LCD, LED or plasma TVs. Your customers expect you to have both a HDTV in your business and HD programming.
When you start researching HDTVs to put in your business there are 3 critical points you must consider before you make your purchase. In this article I am going to cover what those 3 critical points are and then explain in more detail why they are important for your long term return on investment (ROI).
#1 – Warranty
That LCD, LED or Plasma TV you saw at Costco, Best Buy, Walmart or other retail stores may have a lower price than a commercial-grade unit. The main thing you have to keep in mind is this – that consumer grade TV’s warranty is null and void as soon as you mount it in a bar, restaurant or business.
#2 – Light Duty VS Commercial Duty
Consumer-grade TVs that are designed for use in a residential application are expected to be used for 4 hours per day. That is about 1500 hours of usage per year in a residential setting.
In commercial applications, your HD TV may be on for 12 to 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. That can be over 8,000 hours of hours the TV is in usage per year in your bar, restaurant or business.
#3 – Level of Care & Environmental Conditions
The TVs you place in your business may be touched by any number of employees and customers, who rarely treat the TV in your business with the same level of care they’d treat their own TV at home.
In addition TVs in your bar, restaurant or business will be subject to environmental conditions they are not exposed to in a residential setting. The levels of dust and heat inherent in long hours of continuous use in business settings being the largest single factors.
Points 2 and 3 are the reason the warranty on the consumer-grade HD TV you see in a retail store like Best Buy or Costco will not be honored if that TV is placed in a business setting.
Why Choose Commercial-grade
Flat Panel HD TVs designed for commercial use have basic warranty coverage for 3 years in commercial use. These Commercial-grade TVs are designed to handle the additional usage demands and rough treatment they are likely to get in the commercial setting.
They are designed and built with:
- Greater impact resistance
- Commercial cooling and heat dissipation
- Dust / Smoke Management
- Robust power supplies designed for continuous usage
- The ability to withstand frequent movement on tilting or articulating mounts
- Greater connectivity options
The consumer-grade HDTV you see in the retail store does have a slightly lower initial cost, but performance, quality and reliability is sacrificed.
A commercial-grade HDTV provides you with a full warranty, higher performance and reliability and little to no down time for maintenance and repairs.
With labor costs for maintenance or repairs typically running $95 per hour, the small difference in initial investment for a consumer-grade HD TVs are quickly eaten up.
The choice is yours and we will happily install that consumer-grade HD TV for you. There is a saying that FRAM used for decades in their commercials that is very apropos when talking about whether to buy a consumer-grade TV or a commercial-grade HDTV for your bar, restaurant or business
You can pay me now, or you can pay me later.
Regardless of which choice you make, those are the 3 critical things you must consider when buying HD TVs for your bar, restaurant or business.
Its All About Satellites is New Mexico’s Oldest and Largest Commercial DIRECTV dealer and a full service Audio Video Integrator.
