About Us

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  • Meta Description: Learn about OptiHeatX, our mission, and the journey that led us to create optimal heating solutions. Meet the founder, Ilan Kazakov.
  • Title Tag: About OptiHeatX: Our Mission, Our Journey, Our Founder

(Image prompt: A photo of Ilan Kazakov, perhaps in front of his Serbian property, with a subtle overlay of heating-related icons.)

Welcome to the About section of OptiHeatX! Here, you’ll learn about our company’s background, our mission, and the journey that led us to create a revolutionary approach to property heating. We’re passionate about empowering property owners and professionals with the knowledge and tools to achieve optimal heating efficiency, comfort, and resilience.

Our Journey

👋🏻 Hey there! I’m Ilan Kazakov, the founder of OptiHeatX. And like many of you, I was once completely overwhelmed by the world of heating systems.

My family and I made a big change in 2022. We left our old lives behind and moved to Serbia, seeking a simpler, more fulfilling way of life. We bought two old brick houses on one plot, ready for renovation and a fresh start. We had big dreams… and a lot to learn!

Our first winter in Serbia was a wake-up call. We were living in one of the houses while renovating the second, and our heating situation was… well, let’s call it “rustic.” We had a traditional cooking stove (“šporet”) in one room and a small wood-burning stove (“burĹľujka”) in another.

Imagine this:

  • Constant trips to fetch wood, even in the freezing cold.
  • Uneven heating – one room scorching hot, the others freezing.
  • Waking up to a cold property every morning.
  • Worrying about the fire hazard.
  • And, of course, the cost of all that wood!

It was far from the comfortable, efficient heating we were used to. We felt like we were living in the 19th century, not the 21st! We knew we had to find a better way. We were determined to create a modern heating system that would provide city-apartment comfort without breaking the bank (or requiring us to chop wood all day!).

So, I started researching. I looked at heat pumps, hybrid systems, and all the latest technologies. I talked to installers, read countless articles, and studied system diagrams. And the more I learned, the more I realized that the “standard” solutions offered by many manufacturers and installers weren’t actually… well, optimal.

I discovered that many systems were designed around promoting specific equipment, not around creating the best possible solution for the property owner. I saw how installers often fell into the [Web of Marketing Traps], pushing overpriced components, complex installations, and inflexible designs. I encountered the “monumental piping” trap, the “inlet-outlet delta” problem, and the limitations of even “smart” thermostats.

I was particularly interested in hybrid systems – systems that combine multiple heat sources (like a heat pump and solar collectors) for maximum efficiency and resilience. But I found that most manufacturers took a very… manufacturer-centric approach. They’d design their systems around their own equipment, making it the “primary” heat source, and then add on other components as afterthoughts. This resulted in systems that were often unnecessarily complex, expensive, and not truly hybrid.

I talked to several installers, but they only offered standard connection schemes. They weren’t willing to consider our specific requirements or explore truly innovative solutions. That’s when I realized: if we wanted a truly optimal system, I’d have to design it myself.

So, with zero prior experience in plumbing or heating (but a lot of experience in systems development!), I took on the challenge. I started designing a hybrid boiler room scheme. I created, I revised, and I simplified.

And you know what? It worked. On January 18, 2024, we launched the heating system in our new property, powered by an air-to-water heat pump. And the results have been amazing. We’re talking about heating costs as low as 22.1 EUR per month average in December 2024 and January 2025 – that’s what we call optimization! Later, I even built a solar collector with my own hands and integrated it into the system, and developed all the aspects related to multiple water heaters in our hybrid water-based heating system, achieving necessary safety, usability and automation capabilities.

Our heating system became more than just a way to keep our property warm. It became a proof of concept. It showed us that it was possible to create a truly optimal, efficient, and resilient heating system, even without prior experience, by:

  • Focusing on Principles: Understanding the fundamentals of heating and thermodynamics.
  • Prioritizing Function over Form: Choosing components and designs based on performance and cost-effectiveness, not just aesthetics.
  • Embracing a Hybrid Approach: Combining multiple heat sources intelligently.
  • Leveraging Smart Automation: Using technology to optimize system operation and minimize energy waste.
  • Taking the DIY Route (When Feasible): Empowering ourselves to control the design, installation, and cost.

Turning a personal challenge into a mission, we created OptiHeatX to help others to get truly optimal, innovative, and empowering heating systems. We created the Guide to share the knowledge we gained, the Road Map service to provide personalized guidance, the Project to provide implementation ready documentation, and the Automation system to provide intelligent control. We want to empower you to take control of your heating system, avoid the common pitfalls, and achieve the comfort, efficiency, and cost savings you deserve. This is a new approach and it’s a game changer in heating. And who knows? Perhaps, like us, you’ll discover a passion for building truly optimal systems, maybe even finding an opportunity to help others achieve the same by applying your new expertise.

Our Development Philosophy: Iterative Development and Partnership

Our own experience was just the starting point. We founded OptiHeatX with a commitment to Iterative Development and Improvement, driven by a spirit of Partnership with our users. Here’s how we evolve our products:

  1. Foundation from Experience: Initial product versions are meticulously built upon OptiHeatX’s own extensive research, real-world problem-solving, and ongoing internal R&D. We focus first on delivering robust core functionalities that address fundamental needs.
  2. Systematic Functional Expansion: We then iteratively expand the supported functionalities of our products, adding new modules, options, features, and greater depth of detail through continuous internal development cycles.
  3. Valuing Your Feedback: We actively seek and highly value feedback from our users. Your insights, experiences, and suggestions are crucial for refining existing features, identifying new requirements, and enhancing the overall usability and effectiveness of our products.
  4. Data-Driven Enhancements: With explicit user consent, anonymized and aggregated performance data from the OptiHeatX Automation system will provide invaluable insights. This collective intelligence allows us to make data-driven optimizations and develop new, intelligent features that benefit the entire OptiHeatX community.

This collaborative approach ensures that OptiHeatX solutions remain at the cutting edge, continuously evolving to deliver the best possible outcomes for property owners and professionals alike.

Meet the Founder

Ilan Kazakov

Founder

(Image prompt: Professional headshot of Ilan Kazakov.)

I’ve always been a systems person. I love diving deep into complex problems, figuring out how things work, and finding better, more efficient ways to do things. My background is in systems development, and I’ve been fortunate enough to apply that passion to projects like Trafarea.Startups (a platform for win-win organizing and conducting startups) and the future non-blockchain Web3 Values platform Trafarea. But OptiHeatX is personal.

OptiHeatX is the culmination of that journey. It’s about sharing the knowledge I gained, the solutions we developed, and the passion I have for creating truly optimal heating systems. It’s about empowering you to take control of your heating, avoid the common pitfalls, and achieve the comfort and efficiency you deserve.

Conclusion: Your Path to Optimal Heating Starts Here

We created OptiHeatX to share our knowledge, experience, and passion for creating truly optimal heating solutions. We believe everyone deserves a heating system that’s efficient, comfortable, resilient, and easy to manage. Explore our resources, and discover how you can transform your property heating experience:

Explore OptiHeatX Products