Why an ex-AirPods engineer is now designing heat pumps

In 2022, California announced that it wants to install 6 million heat pumps by 2030. So far, it has only been installed. about 2.3 millionwhich means that in order to achieve that goal, it would be necessary to invest about 2,000 per day for the next five years. Hitting that target can be difficult considering a slow split can take a day to set up and cost $4,000 to $6,000 per split, according to at EnergySage.

“We have to do something,” Mary-Ann Rau, co-founder and CEO of Merino Energy, told TechCrunch.

Merino Energy, which has been operating underground, wants to change both sides of the equation by simplifying the heat pump. The startup gave TechCrunch a great deal on its new product, Merino Mono, which costs $3,800, including one hour of installation.

Rau previously worked at Apple, where you may have seen him in a major headline or two bringing new AirPodsand Quilt, another starting temperature. While at Apple, he worked on his home lighting project in San Francisco. They installed solar panels, a gas stove, and an EV charger, but when it came time to install the heat pumps, Rau was “scared of the stickers.”

“That’s when I realized that if it’s not possible for me – right, I’m lucky – it’s not for the majority of Californians and Americans,” he said.

Heat pumps have two stages, an internal heat exchanger and an external heat exchanger. Merino combines that into one unit that takes up as much space as a conventional radiator under a window. It taps into a standard 120-volt system, meaning homeowners don’t need to upgrade the electrical system. “If you can hook up a microwave and it works in that space, Merino Mono will work in that space,” Rau said.

Mono has everything expected of a new generation of heat pumps: It is Wi-Fi connected, it can detect when people are in the room, and different parts of the house can coordinate their work for better performance and comfort. Rau said the company is also developing a combination with Oura Rings that the heat pump can lower the temperature of the room by several degrees while the wearer is in REM sleep.

To install the Mono, workers cut two holes in the wall, one for ventilation and one for ventilation. The air in the loop flows over the condenser coils, which send the refrigerant to the heat exchanger. There, another loop draws air from the room to heat or cool it. What is visible on the outside of the house are the inlet and outlet ports and the condensate pipe.

By moving all the equipment into one unit inside the house, the Merino design is easy to install, Rau said. There is no external circuit connecting the internal circuit, which can contain copper lines and charge with refrigerant. “They are very expensive in terms of labor,” he said.

By reducing the system, Merino has sold other products, which can make the product suitable for small living spaces. The Merino Mono has a SEER2 rating of 15.2, while the Quilt two-zone system hits 25. Large outdoor condensers work just fine. But the startup saw that for many applications, including apartments and townhouses, it made sense to keep everything in-house and as streamlined as possible. A Mono, Rau said, “is a solution whose cost is proportional to the problem we are trying to solve.”

The company is installing 48 heat pumps at Civic Center Apartments, a low-rise development in Richmond, California. Currently, it is targeting California as its first market, although it has plans to expand to other states such as Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington. So far, six installers have signed up in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. The company is taking pre-orders now for shipping later this year.

Rau hopes that this simple feature will help heat pumps conquer the market. “If we can reduce the time and hassle of installing a heat pump, then we can adopt the kids,” he said.