New heating, cooling company enters Gaylord market
GAYLORD — After establishing an office in Rogers City, Renick Brothers Mechanical Contractors has now expanded to Gaylord.
A family-owned company that began in 1948 in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, Renick Brothers provides commercial and residential heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) services.
Wes Becker, branch manager for the Rogers City and Gaylord outlets, convinced the company to come to Northern Michigan.
More: Kirtland programs target sectors important to Northern Michigan economy
"When I needed to move up here to be closer to family, I went to them and they agreed to open an office in Rogers City in 2021," said Becker. "Once that became successful and sustainable, we decided to branch out and open an office Gaylord."
Currently, the company employs nine full-time employees at both locations — five in Rogers City and four in Gaylord.
"We hope to expand here to around 10 by the middle of next year," added Becker.
He said the company specializes in commercial property and Mitsubishi ductless systems.
"A lot of people offer that but many don't do it well. We do it well," Becker said.
He said training is the key to doing it well.
"(That means) spending the money and making the investment to get the people the courses they need to be knowledgable," he said. "We make sure our people are well trained. When a customer pays for a system it has to be right and we make the investment to make sure it is right."
Renick can replace and maintain furnaces, heat pumps and boiler systems whether the system uses gas or oil. Now that oil and gasoline prices have jumped recently, Becker said everyone is interested once again in saving on energy costs.
Becker said that energy efficiency in the HVAC arena has basically plateaued.
"Everything operates between 95 percent and 97 percent efficiency and this is about the same level it has been for about the last 10 years," Becker said. "That is about as good as it will get until they bring on more heat pumps. In Europe by 2030, all new construction will have to use a heat pump. In the U.S. we typically trail that by about 10 to 15 years."
"Everything will be a heat pump as the design gets better," Becker continued. "The gas, propane or fuel oil furnace is going to be gone whether we like it or not."
Heat pumps are now a viable option for Northern Michigan, said Becker. About 15 years ago you couldn't get a heat pump to work when the temperature went below 38 degrees. He said Renick's Mitsubishi systems operate at 85 percent of capacity at 13 degrees below zero.
Subscribe: Check out our offers and read the local news that matters to you
Homeowners now have the option of using a tankless system for hot water in addition to the traditional electric or gas fired hot water tank.
"This system has no tank therefore it's not heating water on standby as you would with an electric or gas tank," said Becker.
Tankless systems "are a great fit for large households and vacation homes," said Becker. He also said the systems must be maintained and the water quality needs to be checked. Water with a lot of lime or calcium could clog up the little openings in the system.
Tankless systems can cost more to install but the savings from not maintaining a tank of hot water can also add up, Becker said.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Renick Brothers is a family-owned company that began in 1948.
