This ex-Googler designed a heat pump you’ll actually want in your home

When he left a job at Google, Paul Lambert knew that he wanted to work on a new challenge that would interest him for the next decade. The answer: Designing a better heat pump.



Heat pumps now outsell gas furnaces in the U.S, both because they can shrink energy bills and because people are realizing that it’s also a meaningful way to cut their carbon footprints. (If everyone in the U.S. got a heat pump, it could reduce emissions from buildings by as much as 64%.) The new state rebates that are beginning to roll out for the products—on top of federal tax credits—will help boost sales much more. But there are two problems holding back some homeowners from making the switch.



[Photo: Quilt]



First, because there’s a shortage of installers to do the work, it can be hard to get a heat pump or even receive a quote. It’s difficult for prospective buyers to find the information that they need online. And typical “mini-split” heat pumps, units that are installed in the wall to heat a zone of a house, can look awkward in a room. Lambert launched Quilt , a new startup, to take on both problems.



“We’re just trying to remove the biggest friction, and the biggest friction is around the appeal of the product itself,” says Lambert, who previously worked on AI and in an in-house incubator at Google. “So let’s have the product be something that feels like a treat in your home. It should be beautiful. It should do everything you’d be used to a smart thermostat doing, and more. And it should also be really easy to buy. It should be clear how much it costs, and it should be clear who’s going to do the installation.”



A sleeker, smarter heat pump



The new Quilt system, which launched today, includes outdoor units (like AC condensers) that are designed to look sleek rather than utilitarian. “It feels much more like an architectural element,” says Mike Simonian, cofounder of Mike and Maaike, the design studio that worked on the project and previously designed products like the Google Home.



Inside, slim wall units come with a front panel that’s either wood or white. The white version can be painted or covered in wallpaper to match the room. While most tech like this is housed in a bulging, curved box, the designers used right angles to fit in with standard architectural details, like windows and door frames.



[Photo: Quilt]



“We wanted to make it feel more like it’s part of your home—more like something that’s installed like cabinetry, as opposed to something that feels very temporary, like just another consumer electronics product that’s going to be outdated in a couple of years,” Simonian says. The unit also includes a light that can highlight art hanging underneath. (The designers considered making the unit double as a shelf, but they ultimately skipped that because it introduced new complications.)



[Photo: Quilt]



The designers made foam models in a variety of different shapes with the same volume—taller or wider, sticking off the wall more or less—to find the sleekest format. The final design is shorter than other products on the market, which are typically 12 inches high. At less than 8 inches high, Quilt’s units can fit above windows or doors. That’s a natural place to add a heat pump, but standard units are too large to be installed there now.



[Photo: Quilt]



Round black dials on the wall, similar to Nest thermostats but smaller, control wall units throughout the house. An app can control the system from your phone. Quilt also uses millimeter wave detection to sense when people are in a room. “It’s extremely precise, unlike traditional occupancy sensors where you need to wave your hands for it to detect you,” says Lambert.



When rooms are empty, the system switches to eco mode, using thermal models and weather forecasts to determine whether to turn the heat or AC down, off, or leave it on. (If it’s a sunny and relatively warm day, for example, the tech will let the sun help heat up a room.) Since the system also knows when people will be back in a room, based on patterns of use or input from homeowners in the app, the tech can also heat or cool it slowly to save energy, rather than blasting heat or air conditioning.



The case for mini-split heat pumps



Some homeowners with forced air heat choose to install larger heat pumps that can work with their existing ducts. Lambert thinks that’s a mistake. First, traditional furnaces pump hotter air through ducts; central heat pumps don’t work at the same temperature, so more air needs to flow through them. “Often, you have to widen your ducts, ripping open ceilings and walls which is like open-heart surgery in a house,” he says.



Central heating systems were “a side effect of fire being dangerous,” Lambert says. “You want to contain fire to a special room and put it in a box and only blow air around. But you can put heat pumps in because they’re safe, and you can shrink them. So you can have a whole different architectural approach to how you heat a home.”



[Photo: Quilt]



With the ability to heat and cool each room individually, the system gets more efficient. (Heat pumps are already 400% efficient—meaning that for 100 units of electricity they can produce 400 units of heat—because they move heat rather than creating it.) By only turning up the temperature where it’s needed, it uses even less energy. With a standard heater, people might leave the heat on at night to keep their bedrooms warm. But that means they’re also heating up the living room and kitchen while they’re unoccupied. A mini-split system avoids that problem.



[Photo: Quilt]



It also can make a house more comfortable because it enables precise control. “For most people who live in a single-family home, the number one pain point they have with heating and cooling is that the rooms are different temperatures,” says Lambert. “If people have a baby, they’ll control the whole house just to keep that one room comfortable, and everyone else suffers. Or the office is always cold, or the upstairs is too hot.” With the new system, a small house might have two or three units in different zones, and a large house might have eight.



Rethinking how heat pumps are sold



The Quilt team also focused on how to make heat pumps easier to buy. On the company’s website, you can quickly find the price and examples of how much it might be possible to save with rebates and other incentives. If someone installs a single system in one room, at a cost of $6,499, federal tax credits can take nearly $2,000 off the total. In a large house with six indoor units, the full system might cost around $39,000, but then could save $7,000 in rebates and get a $2,000 tax credit.



[Photo: Quilt]



To buy the system, rather than trying to find an available contractor, you work with the company. Lambert experienced the challenge of dealing with contractors when he tried to buy a heat pump himself in the past. “It was hard to even find a contractor who would sell me one,” he says. “I didn’t know what the price would be. You don’t know if you’re getting a fair deal or not until you have a few competitive quotes. That usually takes weeks, if not a month, because people want to come while you’re at work and you have to stay home. It’s just a whole song and dance.”



Quilt has its own team of installers, and also makes it simpler for homeowners to plan their system online, with help from a customer service team. The catch: for right now, it’s only available in the Bay Area. But the company, which recently raised a $9 million seed round led by Lowercarbon Capital and Gradient Ventures, plans to soon expand. The goal, ultimately, is to convince as many people as possible that they want a heat pump because it’s desirable tech, not just because they’re trying to help the climate.



“ We’re trying to create a product that everybody’s just going to want, regardless of how motivated they are by climate reasons,” Lambert says. “And I think that’s actually, ironically, how we solve the climate problem.”