Summary

Heat pumps can save households money. But the super-efficient, electric HVAC appliances are almost always more expensive to install up-front than gas- or oil-fired options. Jetson , a Vancouver-based heat-pump startup, thinks it can change that — with a combination of new software, hardware, and a direct-to-consumer…

This startup says it can halve the cost of a heat pump —here’s how
Donate
- Donate
  Clean energy journalism for a cooler tomorrow
- Solar
Wind
Batteries
Electrification
U.S. regions
Northeast
Southeast
Midwest
West
- Newsletters

Subscribe to Canary Media newsletters

You selected1newsletters

Events

Next Upcoming

Climate Night Live at Climate Week NYC

We're kicking off Climate Week NYC with an evening of connection and clean energy entertainment.
ByCanary Media
September 22, 2025
Rumi
RSVP

Virtual

The Grid's Two-Way Street: Engaging Customers for a Resilient Future

This webinar explores why the traditional concept of "energy efficiency" is failing to resonate and how we must reframe the conversation around affordability, reliability, and customer empowerment. Brought to you byDNV.
ByCanary Media
October 7, 2025
Virtual
Register
Browse all

This startup says it can halve the cost of aheat pump —here’s how

The Vancouver-based Jetson has asimple cost-cutting formula: lots of tech, no middlemen. Today, it’s launching its own heat pump product.

ByAlison F. Takemura
9 September 2025

Link copied to clipboard

Jetson uses software to remotely size systems, meaning that the first time an installer comes to a residence is typically to put in the heat pump. (Jetson)
Heat pumpscansave households money. But the super-efficient, electricHVACappliances are almost always more expensive to install up-front than gas- or oil-fired options.
Jetson, aVancouver-based heat-pump startup, thinks it can change that —with acombination of new software, hardware, and adirect-to-consumer approach.
“We are typically anywhere from30% to50% below competitive quotes,” said cofounder andCEOStephen Lake.
The company’s name, which may resonate with certaincartoon-watchers, harkens back to an era when people believed that“technology would enable this exciting, better future for us all,” Lakesaid.
His roughly75-person startup, which Lake would only divulge has“raised abit of money,” launched sales last October to try and deliver on that promise. So far, it’s installedheat pumps— which can both warm and cool spaces —in nearly1,000homes inColorado, Massachusetts, and British Columbia, Canada, and it plans to expand into New York in afew weeks, hesaid.
Today, Jetson is announcing amove it says will further cut costs: It’s rolling out its very own heat pump, theJetson Air. The startup has partnered with an undisclosed manufacturer to make the appliance.
Whole-home ducted heat pump projects in the areas where the startup currently operates typically have aprice tag of $25,000to $30,000, Lake said, citing data from bids that customers routinely share with Jetson. Those prices are also about thenorm nationwide, according to electrification nonprofit Rewiring America —and are significantly higher than the cost of anew gas furnace ($8,000to $10,000) plus air conditioner ($3,000to $5,000), Lakesaid.
Jetson says its average heat-pump installation cost is way less than the national average: just $15,000.
Many markets also offer thousands of dollars in heat-pump rebates, which the startup deducts from what customers pay out of pocket. In these spots, Jetson can offer heat pumps in some cases for as little as $5,000, Lake said. At that point, it’s afinancial no-brainer to choose the electric equipment over agas furnace.
Bringing down the up-front costs of heat pump adoption is crucial, especially in the U.S., where the federal government ispulling back incentives for theHVACtech. More than80million homes across the U.S. and Canada burn fossil fuels for heat, according togovernment data. These furnaces and boilers rack up around3to6metric tons of carbon emissions per household annually, Lake said, and heat pumps are the way to cut that pollution. Swapping afossil-fueled heater out for aheat pump slashesCO2about as much astrading in agas car for anEV.

A new business model to deploy heatpumps

Jetson is taking afresh approach to deliver its low heat-pump prices: vertical integration.
Traditionally, equipment manufacturers sell heat pumps to brands, which sell them to distributors, who sell them toHVACinstallers, who sell them, finally, to homeowners, Lake explained.
“At each stage, there’s amarkup,” said Brett Webster, aprincipal onRMI’s carbon-free buildings team.“There’s good reason to think that avertically integrated company could reduce costs.”
Jetson cuts out the middlemen. It buys the heat pumps, stores them in its own warehouses, and has its own in-house installers ride out in the company’s electric vans to put the appliances in homes, Lakesaid.

### Massachusetts could give heat pump owners ahuge discount on electricity
### Need air conditioning? Consider the heatpump.
### SoCal rejects plan to phase down new gas furnaces and water heaters

Using custom software, Jetson also cuts costs by scoping heat pump projects virtually rather than sending someone out to each would-be customer. Last year, Jetson acquiredwhole-home decarbonization startup Helio Homeand built upon its thermal modeling software that can accurately size heat pump systems remotely. In most cases, the first time an installer comes to an abode is to put in the heat pump. The company additionally uses proprietary software to process rebates.
Jetson’s tech-forward approach flows from Lake’s background. The Canadian entrepreneur previously built asmart-glasses startup called North that Google acquired for an undisclosed amount in2020. With the climate crisis pressing and heat pumps an undersung solution, Lake and some of his colleagues from North pivoted toHVAC, hesaid.
Others are also developing software to improve the heat-pump customer experience. Manufacturing startup Quilt uses over-the-air updates toimprove its minisplit heat pumps over time. And home-electrification startups, such asZero Homes, have created software to reduce the cost of heat pump projects.
In the view ofRMI’s Webster, Jetson’s vertically integrated approach is“taking the nextstep.”
Jetson installed aheat pump for Matt Machado, who works as an expert on surface water and groundwater rights at Colorado law firm Lyons Gaddis, for acost of about $7,000— athird of what the eight or nine other contractors he got bids from offered. He’ll get another $2,000off when he claims the federalEnergy-Efficient Home Improvement Credit (25C)at tax time. Jetson“made it easy,” Machado told Canary Media. On pricing,“they’re very transparent.”
Jetson’s low cost was thanks in part to the company’s up-front application of state and local rebates, which tallied roughly $6,000, Machado said. Other contractors didn’t make these reductions, which would’ve left him to absorb the cost and file for the rebates on hisown.

A souped-up heatpump

With the launch of its heat pump, Jetson aims to provide aproduct that delivers the customer experience of aTesla or Rivian electric vehicle, Lakesaid.
The Jetson Air heat pump is“comparable to the best models,” rated to work down to minus22degrees Fahrenheit, he added. Brands such as Bosch, Carrier, Lennox, and Mitsubishi already make popularoptions for cold-climate markets.
What sets Jetson’s appliance apart, Lake said, are its built-in software, sensors, and controls. Homeowners can use these features to schedule their heat pumps to run at times of the day when the grid isn’t strained and power is cheaper. The tech also lets Jetson monitor asystem’s performance and reach out if something needs to befixed.
“What are the amperages being drawn? Is your air filter getting dirty? Are there any error codes coming up? Is anything not running100%? We can tell all that remotely,” he said. No other heat pump on the market today is capable of that, henoted.
Ultimately, Lake said that these improvements in functionality compound into more savings for the customer.
HVAC“isthis very unsexy category, which Ilove,” Lake said.“So many things we’re doing —applying software to make [products] more efficient and designing better systems —[are] improvements that in other industries have happened along time ago.” But they’re“completely novel in thisHVACworld.”

Heat pumps
Carbon-free buildings
Electrification
Alison F. Takemurais staff writer at Canary Media. She reports on home electrification, building decarbonization strategies, and the clean energy workforce.
Hide Comments