SWAMPSCOTT – School department representatives found themselves in hot water after the prolonged malfunction on a heating, ventilation and air conditioning unit cost the town $15,000.School Business Manager Ed Cronin and Facilities Director Garrett Baker appeared before the Board of Selectmen Wednesday after selectman Glenn Kessler insisted the board get to the bottom of why the unit was off for over two months before it was repaired when they were alerted to the issue at their last meeting by the Renewable Energy Committee.?I?m not criticizing, but I have a hard time with the fact that it took two and a half months to get fixed. That?s unacceptable,” said Kessler.According to Baker, the $500,000 unit, designed to supplement the school?s heating system and therefore save money on heat, is relatively new equipment installed just last summer. Town Administrator Thomas Younger said the unit saves the school $189 a day during heating season.Baker said he was unaware of the unit shutting down on Dec. 3 because it didn?t have an alarm system, which was installed after the unit was repaired Feb. 13.Kessler said he found it hard to believe that the school department?s reason for not repairing the unit was because no company could fix the new equipment. He mentioned that he worked for one of Boston?s largest HVAC companies, and they never got a call from the school.?I know there?s 150 HVAC companies in Boston, and I guarantee there wasn?t 150 companies that said no,” said Kessler. “I know ours would?ve said yes.”?I think ultimately the school and the town should look into how we?re taking care of HVAC infrastructure so we?re proactive, not reactive,” said Kessler. “As long as we learn something from this, that?s the good part.”Baker said most days, “proactive is great, but reactive is pretty much what we get down to.”Baker added that there is now an alarm system installed to alert his computer of exactly what is broken with the unit.Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].