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Launch HN: Electric Air (YC W23) – Heat pump sold directly to homeowners

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Launch HN: Electric Air (YC W23) – Heat pump sold directly to homeowners

#31

Post by euph0ria »

I would only buy it if it has an API that I can access like NIBE does. It should have WiFI and also be able to run completely without internet connection. No functionality should be limited if internet is down except for functions that rely on external data such as live electricity prices etc.

Also, it should be modular so it is easy to repair. Nibe sucks from this aspect and I would love a different heat pump that has better parts prices and was repairable.

As a final must have: Silence. The NIBE is way too noisy and we have it placed next to a bedroom which causes a lot of frustration. When the compressor starts it travels through the walls. I'm currently building extra walls to isolate it and reduce the noise.

Re: Launch HN: Electric Air (YC W23) – Heat pump sold directly to homeowners

#32

Post by jcuenod »

Heat pumps were quite the rage in South Africa. Family members replaced their water heater ("geyser") with one, but I have not been impressed by the ability to heat water for baths and showers.

@Chris, I guess that you would say that heat pumps vary in quality and ability. What sort of metrics should I use to assess the quality of the pump that I am buying to avoid buying a dud?

Re: Launch HN: Electric Air (YC W23) – Heat pump sold directly to homeowners

#33

Post by heatpumpfan »

rcme wrote: post #24

Those are beautiful looking units. It's a cool idea to focus on giving something very pedestrian and utilitarian a nice cosmetic overhaul. I just replaced radiators with a heat pump install. I had a few questions about your units: What are "backup heating strips?" They're mentioned in passing when talking about cold weather, but I imagine there is some meat here. Also, even though many heat pumps work in cold weather…

>"backup heating strips"

Big resistive elements sitting in the air handler. Think big toaster oven coils that are used when the outdoor temperature drops too low for the heat pump to handle the load.

Re: Launch HN: Electric Air (YC W23) – Heat pump sold directly to homeowners

#34

Post by abakker »

If you ever want to chat with a technical homeowner, who is mid-process in reevaluating HVAC retrofit in a house that would be a great candidate for this, contact me at the email account in my profile. I'd love to talk about this.

I've installed a few mini splits, understand load calcs (basically) and have plenty of experience with ducting systems and electrical and control systems.

Re: Launch HN: Electric Air (YC W23) – Heat pump sold directly to homeowners

#35

Post by richwater »

I was raised on the belief that Heat Pumps could not be used in climates that really got "cold". I see the website lists -15 degrees as the operating temperature. What has changed in the past years to enable this? It seems like this would cover most of the contintental US now.

Re: Launch HN: Electric Air (YC W23) – Heat pump sold directly to homeowners

#37

Post by signaturefish »

rcme wrote: post #24

Those are beautiful looking units. It's a cool idea to focus on giving something very pedestrian and utilitarian a nice cosmetic overhaul. I just replaced radiators with a heat pump install. I had a few questions about your units: What are "backup heating strips?" They're mentioned in passing when talking about cold weather, but I imagine there is some meat here. Also, even though many heat pumps work in cold weather…

In the context of heat pumps, a "backup heating strip" is a resistive heating element - electricity goes in, heat comes out just like an old electric heater. They're generally used during defrost cycles for the external air handler in cold weather, or to provide a temporary thermal boost when the heat pump is having performance trouble e.g. when the exterior temperature is near the bottom of the heat pump's operating range.

More detail at https://carolinacomfortsc.com/hvac/what-are-heat-strips/ (no affiliation, they were the first authoritative return from my web search).

Re: Launch HN: Electric Air (YC W23) – Heat pump sold directly to homeowners

#39

Post by dang »

Offtopic but for those wondering: there are two Launch HNs on the front page today because we're getting close to Demo Day for YC's W23 batch, so it's launch season. When we do pair them, I'm trying to select two startups that are uncorrelated with each other. Also, I thought it might be good to start the week with two launches that have nothing to do with LLMs.
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