Smart home startup Quilt on Tuesday introduced a three-zone heat pump that promises to maintain efficiency under harsh conditions that hamper traditional incumbents.
The 3-zone unit is exactly what it says on the label. As it is known in the HVAC world, one outdoor unit can now drive three indoor heads. It’s a product that makes large-scale installation easier and cheaper while minimizing the footprint outside the home, and is key to the startup’s expansion plans, recently bolstered by a $20 million Series B focused on growing sales.
But the real story is how Quilt develops new products.
Since our inception, Quilt has prided itself on the amount of data we collect from our heat pumps. Not only is it connected to the internet, it also has more sensors than a typical heat pump.
By analyzing that data, Quilt engineers are able to do things that other companies can’t. For example, in September we shipped over-the-air updates to heat pumps in people’s homes, freeing up an additional 20% of capacity that could be directed to one or two zones. The free update will help people feel more comfortable during heat and cold waves.
The team also used that data to develop a new three-zone unit, solving a nagging challenge faced by many competitors in the process.
Like all heat pumps, multi-zone units work best when operated at variable speeds. This means that when heating or cooling demand is low, the compressor runs at a lower speed to provide only the amount of heating or cooling that is needed.
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However, there are limits to how low temperatures they can operate. The compressor becomes unstable and difficult to control at low speeds. Matthew Knoll, co-founder and CTO of Quilt, likens this to driving a car at slow speeds. It’s easier to maintain an even 110 mph than it is to maintain a steady 11 mph. “It’s a little difficult,” he said.
To compensate, most systems shut down the compressor at certain points, sacrificing some efficiency and comfort in the process.
But Quilt was able to leverage data collected from around 1,000 units already installed in people’s homes and businesses, giving it insight into how the system is performing in the real world.
“The way most systems are developed, testing is expensive, so they’re tested in a lab based on several scenarios, and you end up with an average product as you know it,” Knoll said.
“We have 1,000 units for different climates, so if we find something, we can look at it across a number of different units and understand if there is room for optimization or if we are having problems in edge cases,” he said.
The company also uses larger copper coils than many of its competitors, allowing it to achieve smaller compressor specifications. This combination, along with other design tweaks, allows Quilt to deliver nearly 90% of its rated capacity (27,000 BTU) at -13°F (-25°C) without sacrificing low-demand performance or efficiency. Quilt says this is the most efficient three-zone mini-split on the market.
To save power, each indoor head can be controlled individually to provide just 2,210 BTUs of heat or 1,570 BTUs of cooling. Even when no heating or cooling is required, refrigerant flows through the lines like any other heat pump. However, thanks to the outdoor unit’s low-speed performance, it only emits about 300 BTUs of heat in heating mode. This is approximately the same amount of heat as an adult.
Where does the quilt go from here? Knoll would not comment on future plans other than to say that Quilt “want to be able to provide a solution for every household.” More products are coming, and large amounts of data could help guide their development.
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