3.29 Getting Comfy with the World's Smartest Heater with Jane Melia

“And what we did was, ‘let’s combine the performance of heat pump, off the shelf heat pump, heat pump water heater, with thermal storage with really really smart controls, and you can reap the benefit of that heat pump by shifting the load to the middle of the day and giving you a heat and hot water whenever you need it.”  - Jane Melia Jane Melia, Co-founder and CEO of Harvest, the smart thermal battery system explains the genesis of Harvest.  She discusses the limitations of traditional heat pump systems and how Harvest combines a heat pump with thermal storage and smart controls to decouple the time when heat is generated from when it is used, allowing the system to take advantage of cheaper, cleaner electricity. Jane provides a detailed overview of how the Harvest system works. It uses a heat pump water heater, a thermal battery (hot water tank), and smart controls to optimize when the heat pump runs to take advantage of renewable energy and off-peak electricity rates, while still providing heating and hot water on demand. Jane discusses the cost of the Harvest system, noting that it is comparable to a median heat pump system but with higher performance. She explains the various incentives and tax credits available, including the 30% federal tax credit, that can make the system cost-competitive with traditional gas heating and water heating. She also discusses Harvest's efforts to work with contractors and property owners to drive broader adoption. Jane and Izumi discuss the future of home heating and cooling, with Jane envisioning a future where thermal storage becomes a standard feature of heat pump systems to better leverage renewable energy and support grid decarbonization. They also discuss the policy changes, such as bans on new gas furnaces, that are helping drive the transition to clean heating solutions. harvest.green