boostHEAT fuses boiler and heat pump in innovative CO2 heating technology

During the ATMOsphere Europe 2013 conference R744.com spoke to Luc Jacquet, Co-founder & President of boostHEAT, about a pioneering CO₂ technology that combines a gas-burning boiler and heat pump in an innovative heat generator. Using boostHEAT technology, the calorific value of the fuel is used not to power the heating system, but to compress the CO₂ refrigerant used in the heat pump cycle, yielding an anticipated reduction in consumption levels of 45-60% for low tempe

R744.com: Could you please introduce our readers to boostHEAT technology?

Luc Jaquet: boostHEAT is a French startup developing a new technology in thermal compression. We merged two existing heating technologies: the boiler and the heat pump. boostHEAT fuses these two technologies using a thermal compressor. It is quite a simple patented technology based on piston cylinder activity. The efficiency delivered by the system reduces the consumption by half for a condensing boiler.

R744.com: In which applications do you see this technology being used?

LJ: The first market we want to address with this new technology is the residential housing market, using this technology to replace boilers. So far, we have developed a 10 kW prototype. Over the next few months we will further develop this prototype and plan to start with field tests in June 2015. In addition we will develop a range of heat-cold generator for 5 to 25 kW and for 50 to 250 kW. CRIGEN, a research and innovation division of GDF SUEZ has audited our first prototype.

R744.com: When can customers expect the product launch of your new technology?

LJ: The first field test will start in June 2015 and is planned to last for one year. During this phase we will already begin to ready the technology for commercial availability. Today it is still a little too early to put a concrete date on the product launch, but we are confident we will be able to bring the product to the market in 2016 or 2017.

R744.com: As we saw your ATMOsphere Europe 2013 presentation, boostHEAT is a little different from a “normal” start-up. Could you share with us your expectations in terms of market and growth potential for the next 5 to 10 years?

LJ: The European market for residential boilers and heat pumps is about 8 million a year, representing a revenue of about €10 billion. So you can see that this is a huge very and attractive market. However, despite the opportunity, new and efficient technology is becoming ever more expensive for the consumer, making it more and more difficult for the end-user to actually pay for this new technology.

To address this issue boostHEAT is developping new ways to enter the market through a different business model. We are looking at new sales channels that reflect the fact that we expect future energy products not only to deliver energy to the final customer, but directly the services: heat, cold and electricity.

Our idea is that you would deliver services to the final consumer using a technology that is not paid by for by the consumer but loaned to the consumer and paid for by the energy efficiency that the technology delivers.

Thanks you very much!