Quilt says its heat pump will address those concerns, promising a sleeker design that can be installed in more places around a room than competitors’ offerings. The company has only released a teaser image so far. It looks promising, but we’ll have to wait until it unveils the finished product on May 15 to pass final judgment. The company engineered the core of the system in-house, though it’s working with a manufacturing partner to produce the units.

Design isn’t the only challenge facing traditional heat pumps. Many customers have been turned off by the way they operate. In most homes, a single mini-split (known as a “head”) handles both heating and cooling for a single room. Each head gets its own thermostat or remote, which means if someone wants to adjust the temperature for the whole house, they need to visit every room.

This is the first that I’ve heard about Quilt, but apparently they raised a seed round last year. I admire what they’re trying to do. The HVAC industry is a traditionally “non-sexy” industry where the incumbents have been stagnant for a long time, in terms of product design, marketing, and innovation.

On the flip side, D2C companies aren’t as trendy as they were 5–10 years ago. Who can remember Casper and all those mattress companies? Allbirds went public at $29 but the stock is at $0.58 today. Turns out, going direct to consumer isn’t the best strategy in some industries.

I’ll be looking forward to May 15.

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