Carrier, the century-old inventor of the air conditioner, is moving on to the home heat pump
Heat pumps are becoming more popular for residential housing with energy prices increasing and the need to reduce use of fossil fuel heating systems.
Andrew Aitchison | In Pictures | Getty Images
In case you haven’t noticed, heat pumps are hot. Although these devices, which use electricity to generate both air conditioning and heat, have been around for decades, the latest models are much more efficient and cost-effective alternatives to conventional fossil-fuel furnaces and air conditioners.
But there are other reasons why heat pumps are fast becoming popular with homeowners. The federal government, as well as an increasing number of states, are offering consumers attractive tax credits and rebates for buying and installing heat pump systems as a way to reduce climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions and propel the transition to renewable energy.
All of this is transforming Carrier Global, the nearly 100-year-old manufacturer whose founder, Willis Carrier, invented air conditioning. Over the past year, the Palm Beach Gardens, Florida-based company has been repositioning itself to capitalize on the fast-growing market for heat pumps and other sustainable heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) technologies.
“We all know that sustainability is a megatrend,” Carrier Global Chairman and CEO David Gitlin told a group of investors in February. “HVAC has to have a critical seat at the table.”
After being spun off from United Technologies — its parent since 1979 — in 2020, and then divesting several non-HVAC businesses, Carrier made its biggest bet yet on the heat pump boom when it acquired Germany’s Viessmann Climate Solutions for roughly $13 billion last April. In addition to proprietary heat pump technology, Viessmann offers renewable energy capabilities and home battery storage, as well as smart home system controls and applications that can be integrated to drive energy efficiency.
“HVAC is at an inflection point right now, with a tremendous shift toward electrification, going from fossil fuel-burning boilers and furnaces to heat pumps,” said Hakan Yilmaz, Carrier’s chief technology and sustainability officer. “In addition, the cooling side of HVAC is expected to triple by 2050, because 2.8 billion people live in hot climate zones and only about 8% have access to HVAC today,” he said. The massive scale and massive consumption of the energy resiliency issue, Yilmaz says, puts the HVAC industry in a position to capitalize.
Heat pumps have a history dating back to 1850s
The thermodynamic science behind heat pumps was developed in the 1850s, when the first ones were invented, and they’ve been used in homes since the 1960s. Heat pumps use electricity to transfer heat from a cool space to a warm space, making the cool space cooler and the warm space warmer. Many of today’s models are three to five times more efficient than fossil-fuel furnaces, and work well even in extremely cold and hot weather.
The most common type is the air-source heat pump system, comprising an outdoor unit — which resembles a conventional central AC device — and an indoor unit that hooks up to either a blower that circulates warm or cool air through ducts and vents or to one or more ductless mini-splits installed in rooms throughout a house.
14 February 2024, Saxony, Leipzig: Michael Kretschmer (r, CDU), Minister President of Saxony, talks to Viessmann employee Sebastian Kowalski about a heat pump at the Haus-Garten-Freizeit trade fair. Kretschmer takes part in the East Trade Policy Forum.
Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
Compared to a gas boiler, heat pumps reduce GHG emissions by 20% when operating on fossil fuel-generated electricity and as much as 80% when operating on cleaner electricity, according to the International Energy Agency. Residential and commercial buildings account for 30% of global energy consumption and produce 26% of energy-related GHG emissions, per the IEA.
In 2023, air-source heat pumps outsold fossil-fuel furnaces for the second year in a row, according to AHRI, the trade association representing HVAC manufacturers. Rewiring America, a nonprofit advocate for mass-scale electrification, estimates that currently, 16% of U.S. homes use heat pumps for heating and cooling. In September, the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of 25 governors, agreed to collectively reach 20 million heat pump installations by 2030, with the aim of ensuring at least 40% of benefits flow to disadvantaged communities.
In the U.S., so far cold states are leading the way
Although heat pumps have become popular for air conditioning in southern states, Maine has the highest rate of adoption, installing 100,000 units in households two years ahead of schedule and aiming to hook up another 175,000 by 2027. That dispels the notion, often promulgated by the oil and gas industry and utilities, that heat pumps don’t work well in below-freezing temperatures, thus requiring a fossil-fuel furnace as backup.
“That’s old news,” said Tobie Stanger, senior home and appliances writer for Consumer Reports. “There are new heat pumps designed for cold weather that allow them to go to five degrees effectively,” she said, adding that they’re widely used in Nordic and European countries. A Consumer Reports analysis of the efficacy of heat pumps in cold climates found that “even amid bone-chilling cold” they use far less energy than other types of heating systems. According to Dave Lis, director of technology market transformation at Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP), air-source heat pumps can work as a home’s main heating system in almost any climate.
Carrier sells 10 different heat pumps, with various energy capacities and price points, and plans to add models made by Viessmann, which already has a presence in the U.S. market. But beyond the company’s sustainable energy technology and product portfolio, “one of the reasons we acquired Viessmann was because of its experience in training dealers and installers and helping customers understand the benefits of its products,” said Milena Oliveira, Carrier’s chief marketing and communications officer.
Leveraging that knowledge, Carrier is providing its nationwide network of around 2,100 authorized dealers training and education programs, as well as advertising and promotional support, not only regarding heat pumps but also ancillary products, such as smart thermostats and energy storage batteries. “Home energy management is a huge component that we want to capitalize on,” Oliveira said, as dealers “shift their mindsets from selling products to selling solutions and components.”
Mark Prodan, the operations manager of M&M Plumbing and Heating, a Carrier dealership in the northern Michigan town of Indian River, said that M&M’s heat pump business grew by nearly 35% last year. “This year it will probably be up another 40% to 50%,” he said.
Prodan said that he typically has to educate customers about the energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness of heat pumps, as well as their environmental benefits. “There’s a general feeling that people want to go with a little bit cleaner energy, but once you educate them on what heat pumps can do, they’re usually very receptive,” he said.
Carrier on-site and remote training of M&M’s sales and service staff have helped, Prodan said. “They have a website with knowledge-based videos, calculators that show customers their cost savings and an app for our service guys that can scan a bar code to pull up information and manuals.”
Getting tax credits and rebates while they last
Between now and the end of 2032, homeowners can get a 30% federal tax credit for the purchase and installation of Energy Star-certified air-source heat pumps — from Carrier and other brands — up to $2,000 annually. That includes any related insulation, ducting, mini-splits and electricity upgrades.
Many states and local utilities offer additional financial incentives, some tied to income levels. Connecticut, for instance, offers a rebate of up to $15,000 for qualifying heat pumps; New York State issues rebates through utility companies that can amount to between $8,000 and $12,000; Maine offers between $4,000 and $8,000. The Energy Star website features a “rebate finder” for obtaining information by zip code.
The cost of installing a heat pump system — depending on the brand, size, where you live and complexity of the job — can be upward of $20,000. Consumer Reports member surveys found that the overall median price paid for the purchase and installation of a ducted heat pump between 2018 and 2023 was $8,348. Mini-splits can range from $2,000 to $6,000 per unit, plus installation.
Besides rebates and tax credits, heat pumps can generate savings by eliminating the cost of fossil fuels, even when factoring in the price of electricity. Rewiring America calculated that homeowners switching from inefficient HVAC systems that run on fuel oil, propane or traditional electric resistance (like baseboard heat or electric furnaces) can save around $1,000 per year.
For 2023, Carrier reported sales of $22.1 billion, up 8% from $20.4 billion in 2022. Its guidance for 2024 projected sales growing to $26.5 billion. The stock is up 30% over the past year, though it is stalled in 2024.
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“This is a big year for us as a company,” Gitlin said in a recent call with analysts. “We will start realizing the tremendous benefits from the combination of Viessmann and as a sustainability-focused, higher growth, pure-play company.”
“When I see companies making big changes to their [product] portfolio and divestitures, that puts a premium on management knowhow and capability,” said Deane Dray of RBC Capital Markets. “I like how they’re doing it,” he said. “The heat pump [focus] does not just make economic sense, but the impact on its carbon footprint is a good part of the story as well.”
Carrier is targeting net-zero GHG emissions in its own operations by 2030 and across its value chain by 2050. The recent stock retreat, Dray says, doesn’t concern him and over the longer term, he anticipates higher margins, more services and more aftermarket revenues. “It’s all lining up nicely,” he said.
Wagons don’t get a lot of love Stateside, with American buyers choosing SUVs over – well, pretty much every other type of vehicle imaginable. That’s our loss, as the latest plug in hybrid versions of the Volkswagen Passat are here to prove.
The latest Passat Variant eHybrid (or, in some markets, Vario, which is what the Europeans like to call wagons) is different from the version we get in the US. Unlike the domestic version which is based on a low-cost platform specific to the US and China, the Euro-market version is built on the MQB platform that underpins VW’s flagship Arteon four-door coupe and both VW‘s and Audi’s entry-luxe SUVs.
That might seem weird, since VW has sold more than 34 million units sold worldwide and the Passat is the second top-selling Volkswagen of all time (behind the Golf and ahead of the Beetle). It’s understandable, then, that the European execs are pretty proud of their Passat.
The latest evolutionary stage of the modular transverse matrix (MQB evo)forms the highly innovative technical basis of the ninth Passat generation. Thanks to the significant economies of scale of the MQB evo, Volkswagen has again democratised numerous high-tech developments and made them available for hundreds of thousands of drivers. The two completely newly developed plug-in hybrid drives (eHybrid) are a perfect example of this. In combination with a new battery, they make all-electric ranges of around 100 km possible. This distance turns the new Passat Variant into an electric vehicle for everyday life – this is additionally ensured by short charging times as the battery can now be charged at AC charge points with 11 kW instead of the previous 3.6 kW. The Passat Variant eHybrid can even be charged with up to 50 kW at DC fast charging stations. In addition, the combination of electric drive motor and new economical turbocharged petrol engine provides overall ranges of around 1,000 km.
KAI GRÜNITZ
Member of the Brand Board of Management, VW
In case the jealous American wago-philes reading this aren’t jealous enough, Volkswagen has announced new Passat eHybrid Match and Black Editions that add nearly £5k of options for the new model year effectively for free.
“Match is better equipped than the outgoing Life, with additional features including metallic paint, VW’s IQ.Light LED matrix headlights, tinted rear windows and an ‘assistance pack’ which adds area view and emergency assist,” reports Alastair Crooks, from the UK car site AutoExpress. “The new Black Edition comes with metallic paint, 19-inch alloy wheels, a panoramic sunroof, tinted rear windows (darker than the Match’s), heated front and rear seats, a head-up display, a 15-inch central touchscreen and the same assistance pack as the Match.”
The entry-level Match replaces the previous Life trim, but costs the same £45,555 (about $60,500), while the Black Edition costs the same as the outgoing R-Line, from £48,900 (about $64,950). The order books open 14 August.
You can take a look at some of the VW press photos of the European Passat wagon Variant, below, then let us know if you’d rather have this for $60K or the discount American version in the comments.
VW Passat Variant gallery
SOURCE | IMAGES: VW, via AutoExpress.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
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Wirtgen Vögele recently revealed the battery-powered MINI 500e and the MINI 502e electric pavers. With an electrically heated screed, a range of paving widths, and zero-emission operations, they’re paving a greener, cleaner path.
Co-developed by Wirtgen Vögele and Italian road equipment manufacturer C. M. S.r.l., the new electric pavers will enable contractors to bid on construction projects that are subject to even the strictest noise and emission limits – but the company is quick to point out that they’re capable enough to serve on conventional job sites.
“These pavers excel on small-scale construction projects and jobs covering a small area – the type of work for which paving crews would not previously have been able to use machines,” reads the official Wirtgen Vögele copy. “Thanks to their elimination of manual labor, among other benefits, the new MINI pavers improve the efficiency and quality of asphalt paving, particularly in the construction of sidewalks and drains, as well as in tight downtown locations.”
The new Wirtgen MINI 502e (the one with wheels) and the MINI 500e (the one with crawler tracks) offer pave widths from 0.25 to 1.8 m, feature a battery-electric drive outputting 22.8 kW (30 hp), and your choice of either a 15 kWh or 22 kWh 48V li-ion battery – good enough battery capacity for up to 16 hours of continuing paving. Both versions can be fully charged on a conventional 110/120 “L1” power socket in about eight hours.
Electrek’s Take
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what the federal EV incentives are or even what the guys on your crew want to operate. What matters is that construction noise upsets Mrs. Clancik’s terrier, and she will force the town council to keep the noise down all by herself.
If your construction company wants to bid on any municipal work, that means you’re gonna have to stay quiet. Maybe even keep the smells to a minimum, too. Buying electric equipment means you can do both.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Wirtgen, via Construction Equipment International.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Car brands like Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, and Tesla have built up solid reputations for safety, but their ultra-safe vehicles often come with a premium price tag. The good news for car buyers looking for a deal, but still prize safety, is that there’s an all-electric Hyundai for under $40K that scores top marks on the IIHS’ toughest new safety tests.
SKIP THE STORY: take me to the deals.
Last Februray, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) established new benchmark criteria that included stricter side-impact and moderate overlap crash safety standards, improved safety for back seat passengers, and a stronger emphasis on pedestrian detection in low light.
“We followed the tougher requirements we introduced last year with another major update to the award criteria,” explains IIHS President David Harkey. “(The 2024) winners are true standouts, offering the highest level of protection for both vehicle occupants and other vulnerable road users.”
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is making it harder to earn its Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ awards from 2024, challenging manufacturers to offer better protection for back seat passengers and improve their pedestrian crash avoidance systems.
We’ve covered a few of the standout performers already over the past year-plus since the new safety standards were awarded, including the Rivian R1T (the only electric pickup to earn the coveted Top Safety Pick+ award), Audi Q6 e-tron, and the Tesla Model Y … but what we haven’t written about was the fact that the Hyundai IONIQ 6 was the only electric sedan to get a Top Safety Pick+, as well.
Why it matters, now
With the average transaction price of a new car at $48,907 and the looming demise of the $7,500 Federal tax credit accelerating demand for EVs (even for those that may not qualify), new EV buyers looking for a dependable commuter with long-range chops, ultra-fast charging capabilities, and the latest infotainment tech for under $40,000 have precious few options. And, if that Top Safety Pick+ rating is a must have? They only have one.
The good news is that it’s an excellent option. The 2024 version was named Car and Driver‘s 2023 EV of the Year, and led our own Scooter Doll to ask, “is any other automaker delivering more value in high-tech EVs right now?” and Nigel Evans over at CarBuzz to write, “Comparing the Ioniq 6 to its rivals is also an interesting exercise. For example, the Tesla Model 3 RWD now costs more than $40,000, with questionable interior design and layout and no Top Safety Pick+ from the IIHS. You can’t get the Chevrolet Bolt or Bolt EUV anymore in the budget EV sector, but they also lacked fast-charging capability.”
With up to 342 miles of range and a starting MSRP of $37,850 with all trims eligible for $7,500 in Retail Bonus Cash through Labor Day plus dealer discounts (if you can get them) bringing the price down even further, there’s a nonzero chance car buyers will be able to score a 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 6 for a sub-30K transaction price. Other featured deals include 0% interest financing for up to 48 months on any 2025 IONIQ 5 models in dealer inventory for well-qualified buyers, while lease buyers able to get a new SE model for $199/mo. with $3,999 down.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Hyundai, IIHS; via CarBuzz.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
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