Competition in the electric heat pump field is heating up, with California-based Quilt among the startups jockeying for a share of the US market. Now another newcomer, Jetson Home, is aiming to take a slice for itself with a focus on direct-to-consumer sales and markets where utility-based incentives help take a bite out of up-front costs. Up To 50% Off On A New Electric Heat Pump? Jetson Home crossed the CleanTechnica radar last year and the company has just announced its entry into into the ripe California market, providing itself with a fresh opportunity to share the money-saving advantages of its heat pump business model. In a press release dated June 2, the company asserts that its direct sales system reduces the total cost of a heat pump installation by 30-50%, though they don’t specify compared to what. The company gets into more specifics when it discusses rebates available through local utilities in California (break added for readability): “In Sacramento, for example, homeowners may qualify for up to $3,000 through SMUD [the Sacramento Municipal Utility District]; customers in the City of Roseville may qualify for up to $2,500 through Roseville Electric for gas-to-electric heat pump upgrades. In Burbank and surrounding Los Angeles-area markets, incentives can reach up to $5,000 for qualifying households, while programs in San Jose and Silicon Valley offer rebates ranging from $1,500 to $3,500, depending on income, municipality and needed upgrades.” Another element that factors into the cost-cutting side is the use of existing ductwork for heating and cooling, along with a remote assessment system that saves on labor costs. Trust, But Verify Homeowners, if you currently use electric baseboards for heating and window units for AC, you lack the ducts, so do your homework before jumping in. Jetson Home has based its business model on replacing gas furnaces, where ducts already exist. For more details, take them up on the offer of a free online quote. Since launching in 2024 Jetson Home has put together a track record in other markets including Colorado, Vancouver, and Massachusetts, alongside a more recent launch in New York earlier this year. In other company news, Time Magazine has tapped the Jetson Air heat pump for an award in the Green Tech category of its Best Inventions of 2025 edition. “To cut the upfront expense, heat pump startup Jetson uses tech to assess projects remotely so they’re only on-site for installation day. And it’s turning to vertical integration to cut costs further, launching its own device, Jetson Air, in September. A 24/7 monitoring system alerts technicians of any potential defects while sensors track air quality and remind owners to replace their filters,” Time reported. $50 Million To Expand A Heat Pump Startup Jetson currently counts more than 1,000 heat pump upgrades under its belt, and the company anticipates many more in California, where state policy makers are aiming for 6 million installations by 2030. That explains why Jetson Home outlines a rather ambitious expansion plan for California. “As operations ramp up, the company expects to create hundreds of jobs statewide, including licensed HVAC technicians, electricians, warehouse staff, and management roles,” Jetson states. The California plan is quite a leap up in scale for Jetson, but in January the company announced a haul of $50 million in Series A funding that should help move things along. “The round, led by Eclipse with participation from 8VC, Activate Capital, and existing investors Garage Capital and Active Impact, will fuel Jetson’s expansion into new U.S. states and advance its vertically integrated platform for fast, affordable residential electrification,” Jetson stated. Lennox Has Something To Say About That Keep an eye on Jetson for further activity in the home electrification movement. The company notes that its new heat pump showcases elements that can also cut the cost of other electrification projects including rebate management and an in-house installation team alongside direct sales and remote assessments. “This is all driven by a veteran technology team that has previously built extremely advanced hardware and software products, now going after transforming old-line industries,” explains Eclipse investor Ryan Gibson. Investor at Eclipse. As if on cue, earlier today the Texas-based legacy manufacturer Lennox reminded everyone that its David Lennox Signature Collection cold climate heat pump is designed for dependability in temperatures down to -20°F, and it has won a major design award. The heat pump award was presented to Lennox by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design and Metropolitan Arts Press Ltd. through the GOOD DESIGN Award program. “GOOD DESIGN is the oldest and the most prestigious Awards Program organized worldwide,” the program says of itself. “Founded in Chicago in 1950 by the former MoMA curator Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., together with such pioneers in modern design as Charles and Ray Eames, Russel Wright, George Nelson, and Eero Saarinen, GOOD DESIGN honors the yearly achievements of the best industrial and graphic designers and world manufacturers for their pursuit of extraordinary design excellence.” Cold Climate Heat Pumps Are Coming For Your Fossil Fuels If you caught that thing about cold climate in Lennox’s announcement, that’s a significant development in the industry. In years past, heat pumps were confined to regional markets in the US with moderate temperatures. That began to change during the Biden administration, after the US Department of Energy launched an industry-wide competition to adapt heat pumps for colder climates in North America, in partnership with the US Environmental Protection Agency and Natural Resources Canada. Lennox was front and center among the legacy firms rising to the challenge. Back in 2022 the company introduced the first prototype in the program, one year ahead of schedule. At that point in the process, the company already recorded a significant improvement. “The prototype delivers 100% heating at 5°F at double the efficiency, and 70% to 80% heating at -5°F and -10°F,” the Energy Department reported. Another up-and-comer to watch is the Canadian firm Worksport. The company relocated to New York State after adapting its signature pickup truck tonneau (cargo) covers for the solar and storage market through its new Terravis Energy subsidiary. Last year Terravis announced the launch of a “mystery” cold climate heat pump, later revealed to be the new AetherLux system incorporating a new performance-enhancing frost control element called ZeroFrost. In May, Terravis received U.S. Patent No. 12,624,872 B2 for the combined system. Photo: The US home electrification startup Jetson Home has launched an ambitious plan for rapid expansion into California, where policy makers aim to install 6 million heat pumps by 2030 (cropped, courtesy of Jetson Home via businesswire.com).
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