Quilt is the smartest way to heat and cool your home while moving humanity off fossil fuels.
Working in close collaboration with Quilt, we were challenged to design a home climate system using heat pump technology that isn’t just electric and sustainable, but better in every way.
Background
60% of U.S. households still depend on fossil fuels for home heating. Switching from a gas furnace to a heat pump reduces household CO2 emissions by about 40%.
Heat pump technology works incredibly well but adoption in the U.S. has been slow. A big reason for this is lack of well-considered design and user experience. We set out to transform the category in a meaningful way that drives adoption. Quilt’s smart home heating and cooling system is not only more efficient and intuitive than anything on the market today but it is thoughtfully designed to complement home interiors and architecture.
The System
Quilt is a heat pump system of four parts: The Quilt Indoor Unit, The Quilt Dial, The Quilt Outdoor Unit, and The Quilt App. Together, they deliver the world’s most intuitive, advanced, and efficient home climate solution.
The Quilt Indoor Unit
The Quilt Indoor Unit is designed to be meaningfully smaller than typical units, allowing it to be installed over windows and doors. Straight lines speak the language of architecture, making the unit feel like a permanent part of the home. The indoor unit comes in either a white oak or white front cover that can be painted or wallpapered, just like your walls. An integrated accent light allows the Indoor Unit to create ambiance with a user-selectable color range.
The Quilt Dial
The Quilt Dial provides temperature control in each room and can be wall-mounted or used on a tabletop. In either orientation, the screen is angled towards you allowing you to easily glance at the temperature or rotate the dial to adjust it. Unlike the complex remote controls in conventional systems, the Dial is a part of your home.
The Quilt Outdoor Unit
The Quilt Outdoor Unit is designed to complement outdoor spaces and exterior architecture with its straight lines and textural pattern that plays with sunlight and shadow.
Ease & delight
Quilt offers intuitive room-by-room control, creating the most efficient system on the market.
Quilt provides end-to-end support from installation to point-of-sale rebates.
Control every room in the house with the Quilt Dial, or adjust the temperature when you’re on-the-go or cozy in your bed with the Quilt App.
Quilt’s advanced sensors mean that empty rooms aren’t being heated or cooled, so your energy bill is lower.
Sustainability
In many industrial design projects, the subject of sustainability often leads to an effort to be “less bad” through incremental improvements. With Quilt, desirability equals sustainability. By creating a heat pump system that is more desirable, Quilt accelerates our transition off fossil fuels. It’s time for our homes to be part of the energy transition, supported by systems that aren’t just electric and sustainable, but better in every way.
Category:Green ProductsYear:2025Location: Redwood City, CaliforniaDesigners:Mike & Maaike Inc., San Francisco, California, USA and Quilt Systems Inc., Redwood City, California, USAManufacturer:Quilt Systems Inc., Redwood City, California, USADesign Team:Mike Simonian, Maaike Evers and Paul Lambert, Matthew Knoll, Bill Kee, Robert Luan, Andy Kriebel, Sami Shad, Mei Zhang, Leon Zhang, Audrey Nieh, Zayaan Khatib, Dave Bedingfield, Zhen Yu Song, Jason Gonzalez, Isaac McQuillen, Luis Villaran, Allison Cong, and Cormac EubanksPhotographers:Cayce Clifford and Mike & Maaike
