Smart home startup Quilt unveiled a three-zone heat pump on Tuesday that promises to maintain efficiency even in the demanding conditions that put off traditional incumbents.
The tri-zone unit does what it says on the label: One outdoor unit can now drive three indoor heads, as they are known in the HVAC world. It’s a product that will make large installations simpler and cheaper, minimizing the out-of-home footprint, and is key to the startup’s expansion plans, which were recently supercharged with a $20 million Series B focused on expanding sales.
But the real story is how Quilt developed the new product.
Since its inception, Quilt has prided itself on the amount of data it collects from its heat pumps. Not only are they connected to the Internet, they are also equipped with more sensors than standard heat pumps.
By analyzing this data, Quilt engineers have been able to do things that other companies haven’t. In September, for example, they sent an over-the-air update for heat pumps in people’s homes that unlocked an extra 20% capacity, which could be directed to either one or two zones. With the free update, people could be more comfortable during heat waves and cold spells.
The team also used the data to develop the new three-zone unit and, in the process, solve a nagging challenge faced by many competitors.
Like all heat pumps, multi-zone units work best when running at variable speed — that is, when heating or cooling demand is low, the compressor runs at a lower speed to provide only the amount of heating or cooling needed.
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But there are limits to how low they can run. Compressors become less stable at low speeds, making them more difficult to control. Matthew Knoll, co-founder and CTO of Quilt, compares it to driving a car at low speeds. Maintaining even 70 mph is easier than a steady 11 mph. “It’s a little more difficult,” he said.
To compensate, most systems stop the compressor at a certain point, sacrificing some performance and comfort in the process.
Quilt, however, was able to pull data from the thousand or so units already installed in people’s homes and businesses, giving them insight into how the systems performed in the real world.
“The way most systems are developed, they’re tested in a lab under two scenarios because the tests are expensive. And you end up with kind of you know an average product,” Knoll said.
“We have a thousand units out there in many different climates, and if we see something, we can look at it across a bunch of different units to figure out if there’s room for optimization or if we’re seeing a problem in a corner case,” he said.
The company also uses a larger copper coil than many competitors, which allows it to specify a smaller compressor. This combination, along with some other design tweaks, allows the Quilt to deliver nearly 90% of its rated capacity (27,000 BTU) at -13˚ F (-25˚ C) without sacrificing performance or low-demand efficiency. Quilt says it’s the most efficient three-zone mini split on the market.
To save energy, each indoor head can be controlled individually, providing just 2,210 BTUs of heat or 1,570 BTUs of cooling. If heating or cooling is not required, the refrigerant still flows through the lines as in other heat pumps. But thanks to the low-speed performance of the outdoor unit, it only releases about 300 BTUs of heat in heating mode. That’s about as much heat as an adult puts off.
Where does Quilt go from here? Knoll wouldn’t comment on future plans other than to say that Quilt “wants to be able to have a solution for all homes.” More products are coming, and it’s likely that bundles of data will help develop them.
