Roznovak's Services Blog

What Are My Options When It Comes to Geothermal Installation?

February 4th, 2015

Heating and cooling the home with a geothermal system saves homeowners across the country hundreds of dollars each year in energy costs, and it may do the same for you. A geothermal heat pump works a lot like an air conditioner, removing heat from the home in order to provide a source of cool air in the summer. But during the heating season, a geothermal system can work in reverse, pumping heat into the home thanks to the reliable temperatures deep within the earth. Geothermal systems are one of the top choices for renewable heating and AC, saving you money and reducing your environmental impact.

For quality geothermal heating installation in Austin from professionals experienced with these unique units, discuss your options with the professionals at Roznovak.

Vertical or Horizontal Installation

When you decide that a new geothermal system is the right choice for you, you still have a couple of other big decisions to make. Most importantly, you and your technician will need to decide upon whether vertical or horizontal installation is best suited to your needs. The type of installation that goes onto your home will depend on some key factors. First, the amount of space on your property may determine which type of installation you need. If there is not enough room on the property to dig a wide trench for horizontal loop installation, space considerations may force you into vertical installation, in which the loop system is installed upright in a deep hole.

If your property allows for either type of installation, there are still a couple of other things to keep in mind. Horizontal installation tends to be less expensive. On the other hand, more of your landscaping must be wiped out in order to make room.

Choosing a Quality Company

The second major choice you’ll need to make is which company to go with for installation. Despite its rising popularity, it turns out that most contractors do not offer geothermal installation. First, you’ll need to find a company experiences in geothermal installation and service. But also, you’ll want to find a contractor with a good name, backed by positive customer reviews and a history of quality service.

At Roznovak, we have years of experience installing geothermal systems, and we strive to make any type of heating installation in Austin as hassle-free as possible. Call us today, and find out why so many people make the switch over to this effective and efficient renewable resource.

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When Is It Time to Call for Heating Services in Georgetown, TX?

January 26th, 2015

Everyone knows that their heating systems aren’t invincible. No matter how sturdy your heater is, eventually it’s going to require some maintenance.

The question then becomes: when should you call for it? A lot of people like to wait until a problem occurs before calling for any sort of heating services. While this may save you some slight inconvenience, it will often cost you quite a bit in the long run. Let’s examine some of the best times to call for heating services, and why you shouldn’t wait until something breaks.

Annual Heating Maintenance

The old saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is just as relevant in heating maintenance as it is anywhere else. Preventive maintenance is extremely beneficial to your heating system in many ways. It can identify and fix any parts that may be threatening to cause problems, and ensure that your heating system in general is in the best possible condition it can be. This is especially important during the fall season, right before winter sets in and the demand on your heating system increases exponentially. It is recommended that you have your heating system checked at least once every year, in order to keep it in ideal operating conditions. Even if nothing seems to be wrong with your system, schedule the appointment anyway. You’ll reap a much larger benefit in the long run.

Any Time You Notice an Issue

Heating services can be a pain sometimes. You have to go out of your way to schedule the whole thing, and often make yourself available in case the HVAC technician needs to talk to you about anything. However, that’s no reason to ignore the signs that your heater is having trouble. Though not all issues with your heater present warning signs, there is no excuse to ignore any unusual noise or other behaviors that your system might present. Trust us, the sooner you react to any possible issues, the easier it will be to fix them.

If you think you may need heating maintenance services in Georgetown, call Roznovak today.

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What Can a Heat Recovery Ventilator Do for My Home Heating?

January 16th, 2015

By now, you’ve most likely been using your heating in Cedar Park for a couple of months, and have had at least one energy bill come in regarding your heating. If you looked at that bill and wondered if there was a better way to make your heating work better for you, you aren’t alone.

And there is a way: install a heat recovery ventilator.

What Is a Heat Recovery Ventilator?

A heat recovery ventilator, also known as a HRV, is a ventilation device that utilizes the heat energy of your outgoing, stale air to pre-treat the cool, incoming fresh air. The way it works is this: the HRV expels your used indoor air, but does so through the HRV; at the core of the HRV is a heat exchanger. At the same time, a small fan draws air into the HRV from the outside. As the two airstreams enter the HRV, the heat energy and moisture from the outgoing air is transferred to the incoming cool, dry air. This pre-treated air becomes part of your heating system’s air flow, but because it is pre-heated, your heating system doesn’t have to work as hard to warm it.

How Does This Help Your Home Heating?

First, an HRV helps take some of the work load off your heating system by pre-treating the air; this reduces the amount of work your heater has to do to heat your home. Any time you can reduce the workload of your heating system, you help increase its energy efficiency. Another benefit of a decreased workload is less stress for your system; a system that isn’t stressed isn’t as prone to malfunction, breakdown and premature aging. The results are less energy use and improved operation for your heating system.

How Does This Help You?

Less energy use means lower monthly energy bills. But there are other benefits a HRV offers you:

  • Improved comfort
  • Better moisture balance
  • Even heating

Think your heating in Cedar Park could benefit from a heat recovery ventilator? Then call the experts at Roznovak today and schedule an appointment!

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What Does R-Value Mean and Why Is It Important?

January 16th, 2015

Good insulation is necessary for year-round energy efficiency and comfort in your home, but it isn’t a one-size-fits-all kind of product.

Different areas of the country need different levels of insulation throughout the year due to differing climates. For example, a home in Florida will not need the same level of insulation as a home in Maine – but the home in Florida still needs the right amount of insulation to ensure comfort and energy efficiency. So how do you know how much insulation is needed for your home in Taylor, TX? One way is to review R-value.

What Does R-Value Mean?

The “r” in R-value stands for the word “resistance”; this is because insulation slows the transfer of heat, i.e., gives resistance to the heat. The number in an R-value rating indicates the level of insulating power that particular type of insulation has; the higher the R-value of a particular type of insulation, the greater its resistance to heat transfer.

How Is the R-Value of Insulation Determined?

The R-value of any kind of insulation depends on three factors:

  • Type of insulation
  • Its thickness
  • Its density

What Factors Influence Needed Insulation Levels?

As mentioned above, homes need varying levels of insulation; determining this level takes into consideration several factors:

  • Geographic location
  • Climate of location
  • Floor plan of the home
  • Where the insulation is going (exterior wall, ceiling, etc.)
  • Number of stories in your home
  • Specialized architecture (vaulted ceilings, wall-to-ceiling windows, etc.)
  • Type of foundation (slab, crawlspace, basement)
  • Type of heating and cooling systems you have

Can’t I Insulate Myself?

The short answer is: sure you can – but do you really have the skills a professional will bring to the job? Insulation involves a lot: determining what type/s of insulation are best for the different areas in your home, the creating of vapor barriers to protect your home and insulation from excess moisture, installation of radiant barriers in the attic, calculating the correct amount of insulation for your home – the list is long and involved. And unless you can handle all these things and more, it’s best to leave the job to a trained expert.

The insulation in your Taylor, TX, home effects your entire home and everyone in it. If you need help with insulation installation, call the people you can count on: Roznovak.

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Steps to Take before Heating Installation

January 5th, 2015

Installing a new central heater for a home may sound like an intimidating task, but it shouldn’t be. If you rely on professional heating service in Hutto, TX from Roznovak, the job will go speedily and with few issues. You can trust to our experience to see that your new heater does the job it is supposed to, and will do it for many years to come.

Here are a few steps you can take to help ensure a great new heating installation:

  • Decide on the right type of heater to suit your needs: There are more heating options available today than ever, so choosing a new heater can sometimes present a daunting challenge. If you are replacing an older system, you will probably stay with the same type. However, if you are putting in the first heater for a new home, you must choose among systems like furnaces, heat pumps, ductless heating, and geothermal. The right type of heating for your home will depend on the available fuel sources, factors regarding your house, and your budget plans. Work with professionals to be certain that you make the best choice possible.
  • Have the heater properly sized: This is a key step where you will be glad that you have professionals to assist you. A new heating system must be the right size to provide the heat level you require for comfort but without overworking and draining energy. A heater that is too large for its space is as bad as one that is too small. Skilled technicians will perform a heat load calculation to determine the amount of BTUs a new heater must generate to find the ideal middle ground between effective warmth and efficient performance.
  • Schedule a convenient time: Heating installation usually requires a day to complete. The actual time varies, but your installers should be able to give you an accurate estimate once you have decided on what system to install. Plan to have the work done when you won’t need to have the heat on in the house, preferable when few people will be home, and expect the work to take up at least a few hours.
  • Clear access to the work zone: The installers will take precautions to protect your home by laying down floor coverings. However, you can make the job go faster by moving furniture and other large obstacles to the basement or cabinet in your home where the new heating system will go.

For the most part, you will not have to worry about the details of heating installation if you have a quality team to handle the work. Our technicians at Roznovak have provided Hutto, TX with residential heating service since 1979, and we are experienced with performing fast and effective installations of many types of systems. Call us when you first decide that you need new heating, and we will take care of selecting and sizing the new unit so that you end up with the ideal new home heater for your needs.

 

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When New Year’s Day Was Not on January 1st

January 1st, 2015

Some holidays fall on shifting calendar days for every year, such as Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday in November) and Easter (the first Sunday after the first full moon to occur on or after March 21). Other holidays, such as Valentine’s Day and Halloween, are fixed. No holiday has a more solid calendar date attached to it than New Year’s Day. It has to fall on January 1st because it celebrates the first day of a new year. That only makes sense…

…except that, like most things that at first appear obvious, there is a bit more to the story. The beginning of the year was not always on the first of January. As with an enormous numbers of traditions in the Western World, the establishment of January 1st as the inaugural day of a new year goes back to the ancient Romans.

The modern solar calendar is derived from the Roman model, but the earliest Roman calendars did not have 365 days in a year spread over 12 months. Instead, there were 304 days spread over 10 months. The Romans believed this calendar originated with the mythical founder of the city, Romulus. If Romulus were a real person, we can credit him with a poor understanding of the seasons, as this abbreviated calendar soon got out of sync with Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Numa, one of the Kings of Rome (probably also fictional) receives credit for creating a longer year with two added months, Ianuarius and Februarius, bringing the number of days in the year to 355. The new month of Ianuarius, named after Ianus (Janus in contemporary spelling), the god of beginnings, would eventually be known in English as January. But when this new calendar was instituted, January was not the first month. March, named after the god of war, remained the first month, and March 1st was New Year’s Day.

This extended calendar still did not keep in synch with the seasons. In 45 BCE, Julius Caesar instituted reforms to align the calendar correctly according to calculations of astronomers, with an additional 10 days distributed across the year. January also became set as the first month, and offerings to the god Janus on this day started the tradition we now know as New Year’s. The date still fluctuated during the ensuing centuries, with a number of Western European holy days treated as the beginning of the year instead. It wasn’t until the next calendar reform in 1582, the Gregorian Calendar, that the date of the New Year was fixed at January 1st.

However you choose to celebrate the beginning of the current calendar, everyone here at Roznovak hopes you have a wonderful 2015!

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Why Do We Hang Up Mistletoe?

December 24th, 2014

Of course, you probably know part of the answer to this question already. You hang up mistletoe so that the people standing underneath can share a romantic holiday kiss! But what you may not realize is that the origin of this longstanding ritual predates many of the other holiday traditions we celebrate today. Why would a plant that has many poisonous varieties (most types sold for use in the home have few negative effects, but you can wrap it in netting to prevent children from consuming any fallen berries or leaves) be used as a symbol of holiday affection?

There are a couple of ways to explain the positive associations of (potentially hazardous) mistletoe. For one, this semi-parasitic plant has long been hailed as a treatment for illnesses and pain. The ancient Greeks and Romans used it to cure cramps, epilepsy, and more. Even today, mistletoe extracts are one of the leading alternative medicines studied for their effectiveness in killing cancer cells. And because the early Celtic Druids saw it as a sign of healing and life, they may be the first to bestow upon the plant its romantic associations, deeming it worthy of treating the infertile.

But it is Norse mythology that is likely responsible for a majority of the modern traditions associated with this small hanging bunch. One of the powerful Norse god Odin’s sons, named Baldur, was said to be invincible due to an oath his mother took to protect him from harm. But Loki, a god who often set out to make trouble for the gods, set out to find the one thing that could do some damage, and eventually discovered that Baldur’s mother Frigg had never included mistletoe in her invincibility oath. When mistletoe was finally responsible for her son’s demise, the grieving Frigg vowed that the plant would never again be used to hurt another living thing, and that she would plant a peaceful kiss upon anyone who walked underneath it.

And that is one of the reasons that, today, kissing under the mistletoe is viewed as a source of good luck. From our family to yours, we wish you a safe holiday season, and we hope that you and your family are full of joy and good fortune—mistletoe or not! Happy holidays from Roznovak!

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The Importance of Cleaning a Diesel Particulate Filter

December 19th, 2014

Since their inception, diesel engines have been used to move heavy loads that other engines just couldn’t handle. They are powerful, efficient, and vital to the operation of so many machines that make our modern lives possible. However, they also happen to produce the most air pollution of any kind of combustion engine. This has led to the introduction of diesel particulate filters, which are designed to capture most of the pollution given off by diesel engines. This is a great thing, but it does come with its own responsibilities. Namely, the need to regularly clean the filter. Let’s take a look at how the diesel particulate filter works, and why you need to clean it.

The Diesel Particulate Filter

The diesel particulate filter is a device installed in the exhaust pipe of a vehicle. There are several different varieties of particulate filters, but the most common is comprised of cordierite, which is a type of ceramic. Just like other air filters, the diesel particulate filter works by capturing particles that flow through the exhaust pipe while allowing heat and airflow to pass through it.

Cleaning the Diesel Particulate Filter

Over time, the diesel particulate filter becomes clogged due to the constant buildup of particulates coming off the engine. This can cause a great many problems for the engine itself, up to and including forcing exhaust back up into the engine. This can cause a lot of damage to multiple parts of the engine, including the actuator, fuel injectors, and even the engine oil. For this reason, it is of paramount importance that the diesel particulate filter is kept clean and functioning.

Most vehicles do this by going through a regeneration cycle. A computer present in the vehicle will inject more fuel into the engine to raise the temperature of the system. This causes the particulates to burn off of the filter, leaving it clean. However, this system is not perfect, and not all vehicles have them. If you aren’t sure whether or not your vehicle is using a regeneration cycle, call Roznovak. We provide diesel particulate filter cleaning services throughout Austin, TX.

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Why Is Good Insulation An Important Part of Heating?

December 12th, 2014

Have you ever had this happen to you? It’s freezing outside, and your heater has been on for hours. Everything is running smoothly, and your home is a nice and comfortable temperature. As soon as you enter another room, however, the temperature drops by about twenty degrees. What in the world just happened? You’re likely the victim of poor heating insulation. Let’s take a look at how important good insulation is to heating.

What is it?

Insulation is a material that is installed into the walls, sub-floor, and ceilings of your home to protect it from temperature changes outside. It can be composed of all sorts of materials, from blankets to loose-fill particles. Good insulation can also help to muffle sounds between rooms and even between houses.

Why is it Important?

Insulation is designed to seal the house off from the climate outside. Without insulation, changes in air pressure would result in the house being more or less the same temperature as the surrounding air. If you attempt to heat or cool a home without any sort of insulation present, the house will simply re-equalize shortly after the heating or air conditioning is turned off. This is why good insulation is such an important part of heating. You can have the best heating system in the world, but without insulation the house can still be freezing as all the heat is leeched out of it.

With good insulation, however, even a modest heater can conceivably keep a home well-heated and comfortable. The insulation keeps the heat inside the home, instead of allowing it to pass through the walls and ceiling. This is also why it is a good idea to keep your insulation in good condition. Though insulation is protected from the elements by the walls of the house, it does decompose over time. Certain animals and insects can also consume or otherwise damage your insulation, leading to holes where heat can escape your home.

If you think you may have a problem with your insulation, call Roznovak. We provide residential heating services throughout Austin, TX.

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Why Consider a Heat Recovery Ventilator?

December 5th, 2014

One of the major difficulties with maintaining fresh air in a house today is that allowing outside air through windows and doors makes it harder to keep a home comfortable. In hot Texas summers, it is impractical to have windows and doors open and let fresh air inside because it will ruin the efficiency of the air conditioning system. Cold weather days present a similar problem for the heating system.

One way around this dilemma is to contact Roznovak and ask about installation of a heat recovery ventilator for your home. We have many decades of experience providing residential cooling and heating service in Hutto, TX, and we can help you achieve the best in comfort while allowing fresh air to circulate through the rooms of your house.

What a heat recovery ventilator does

A heat recovery ventilator (HRV) is a device installed into an HVAC system that draws in outdoor air and then sends this current against a flow of air drawn from the indoors. As the two currents mingle, they exchange heat, which pre-conditions the air from the outdoors before it reaches the AC or heater. During hot weather, the fresh warm air loses heat before reaching the air conditioner; during cold weather, the fresh cool air gains heat before reaching the heating system.

How this benefits your home

By pre-conditioning the air before it reaches the comfort system, an HRV allows currents of fresh air into a home without placing extra strain on either the heating or air conditioning system. An HRV recovers, on average, 80% of the energy that would otherwise be lost by letting in a fresh breeze. An HRV will mean much lower energy costs for your home while at the same time delivering the indoors higher quality air.

Fresh air is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. The heavy insulation on modern homes means that very little fresh air can enter and sweep away the stale air inside. This stuffy and often dirty air can lead to respiratory difficulties, insomnia, and allergic and asthmatic reactions. An HRV will see that you have the fresh air your household needs to reduce these problems without forcing you to pay a high cost for heating and cooling.

Call professionals for HRV installation

You must have professionals in residential cooling and residential heating service in Hutto, TX install a heat recovery ventilator. The device needs to receive precise sizing so that it can do its job without creating issues for the efficiency of the rest of the HVAC system. You can count on our technicians at Roznovak to take care of installing an HRV for your home that will deliver comfort, health, and energy savings. Call our indoor air quality specialists today to learn more about HRVs.

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