cmui

6 ms·

1.
by cmui 2y ago
I’m curious what’s the rank sort of items a typical apartment dweller would want to keep on backup - for me it would be WiFi router, phone charger, microwave, kettle and a couple kitchen lights. Any power restrictions that would preclude ru
2.
by cmui 2y ago
Very cool. You mention powering connected devices - is it feasible to push power back through the outlet to power parts of the home? Euro solar panels are doing this I believe.
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by cmui 4y ago
You're right, heat pumps have been around for a while, but they're only at 15% market share across the whole US. The Southeast, for a few different reasons, has the highest market share. (1) It doesn't get that cold, and magn
4.
by cmui 4y ago
The Electric Air system can provide a lot of dehumidification. For your specific situation dedicated dehumidifiers are probably the right solution, unless you need a fair amount of cooling in addition to the dehumidification. This is becaus
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by cmui 4y ago
My main worry for you would be clearance in front of the condenser. These are side discharging units and require 4ft clearance in front for the air exhaust stream. Rough foot print of the condenser - 36" x 15".
6.
by cmui 4y ago
Very cool prototype. Fresh air is a bigger deal than people realize. Shoot me a note at the email in my bio, I'd love to connect.
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by cmui 4y ago
You're right - hardware is tough, and the scope is large. But this is an important area to build better products, there are a lot of people passionate about this/want to work on this and the hardware doesn't have to be design
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by cmui 4y ago
More than 2M per year - this article implies 8M combined natural gas and heat pump installs in US: https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/heat-pumps/chart-americ...
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by cmui 4y ago
What's your preferred thermostat?
10.
by cmui 4y ago
Yeah, its a good question. I think 'direct to homeowners' has generated some confusion that this is a DIY product. After a purchase we have one of our contractor partners perform the install, they also bring the unit with them, we
11.
by cmui 4y ago
In the future we'll likely show the condenser more in context, a backyard or something similar. I don't know that much about thermoacoustic heat pumps. I do suspect they're less efficient than a standard vapor compression hea
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by cmui 4y ago
Heat pump water heaters are great, also a much simpler install than an HVAC system.
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by cmui 4y ago
Only 17% of homes have heat pumps at the moment. 80M (though I believe its closer to 88M) homes in the US are single family detached homes. What region are you in? Local contractor knowledge around heat pumps is quite regional.
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by cmui 4y ago
It can be very regional, most of my specific discussions have been in the Northeast and the SF Bay Area. What area did you do this in?
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by cmui 4y ago
Thanks!
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by cmui 4y ago
Its an interesting idea. Install would be more expensive because you have to fit it nicely into the ceiling drywall and also snake refrigerant lines through the ceiling. Wall units typically have a hole drilled straight through the wall for
17.
by cmui 4y ago
Not a dumb question, you've hit on one of the best features of these systems. They act as a heater in the winter and as AC in the summer. Same system.
18.
by cmui 4y ago
Thanks for your perspective. What do you think is needed to move the needle on heat pump adoption/ make them a more compelling product?
19.
by cmui 4y ago
The size ratings are confusing. This is really a ~19kbtu unit at 5F. Most homeowners do not want a DIY solution, they want it professionally installed. And this system lacks air quality features (HEPA, fresh air intake, humidifier) and the
20.
by cmui 4y ago
> By going direct to the homeowner you are targeting the venn diagram union of "people who are willing & able to do the work themselves" This is meant to be installed by a professional contractor, not the homeowner. > Ho
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by cmui 4y ago
Indoor or outdoor coil, copper tube-and-fin or aluminum microchannel?
22.
by cmui 4y ago
Thermostat operates as a standalone device, no internet connectivity required. If you connect it to wifi it receives demand response, weather and TOU signals to reduce your utility bill.
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by cmui 4y ago
We could be more clear on that claim. Temp variation within a room - ducted variable speed equipment solves this well. Temp variation between rooms - either need zoned dampers, programmable vents like Flair, or ductless units controlling ea
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by cmui 4y ago
Thank you for pointing that out - just fixed it!
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by cmui 4y ago
Yeah, definitely aware of this tech, and its often found in commercial applications. Probably overkill for residential stuff though, HEPA is already very good.
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by cmui 4y ago
Up to homeowners to decide how much energy optimization they want. You can easily enable/disable DR as a homeowner.
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by cmui 4y ago
Haven't looked at that. Dictating compressor design requires some massive scale as a business, or taking on the design and manufacture yourself, which I wouldn't recommend to startups. Also, I suspect that increased vapor injectio
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by cmui 4y ago
Yep, definitely possible and done in this system. Depending on the details of your house + climate you will be limited on how high on humidity you can go in the winter. This is to prevent condensation in the structure.
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by cmui 4y ago
Yep, this should be possible.
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by cmui 4y ago
Not at the moment, working on a tool like this for the preorder site! There are btu/sq.ft. rules of thumbs that are not appropriate for heat pumps (you can easily oversize by 100%).

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