London design studio Blond has worked with Electric Air to develop an elevated product design and visual identity for the start-up's heat pump system, in a bid to bring low-carbon heating and cooling to more US homes.
Electric Air founder Chris Mui recruited the design agency to help him fulfil his mission of convincing homeowners to ditch their gas-guzzling boilers.
With this aim, the former aerospace and Tesla engineer set out to develop a full hardware and software system that improves on the aesthetics of air-source heat pumps whilst also making the installation process more straightforward.
Blond was tasked with creating a brand identity and the industrial design for a family of four products that make up the heat pump system. The studio aimed to create a solution that is desirable, intuitive to use and easy to integrate into existing homes.
"Heat pumps, condensers and other home heating and cooling products tend to be fairly unconsidered in terms of their aesthetics because they're often hidden away in a loft or basement," Blond director James Melia told Dezeen.
"We felt that if you're going to spend a significant amount of money making a big change to your home infrastructure it helps if the objects you're buying are attractive and desirable."
The all-electric heating and cooling system comes with an integrated air filtration system and features a cohesive, minimal design, designed to blend seamlessly with a range of buildings and interiors.
Blond set out to elevate the appearance of the appliance, which is often encased in chunky, plain casings to conceal its functional components, with the addition of soft curves and a mix of contrasting matt and gloss surfaces.
The Electric Air system comprises four products: a condenser unit – which is placed outside the home – an indoor air handling module, a thermostat and an optional wall unit.
An app allows users to see and control their home's heating and cooling, as well as their indoor air quality.
The condenser unit exchanges energy with the outside air using refrigerant and a compressor. The warmed air is fed through the air handler and humidifier module, which heats, cools and dehumidifies it.
The thermostat helps to optimise the heat pump's efficiency whilst also monitoring humidity levels. If it detects harmful particulate pollution or excess CO2 in the air, it can trigger HEPA filtration and fresh air intake to improve indoor air quality.
"This thermostat has a kind of superior functionality to existing products from the likes of Nest or Hive," Melia explained.
"It is able to read the air quality inside the home and then adjust the filtration further down the system to be able to deliver the kind of air that is required to provide a balance inside the home."
An important part of the project's focus was the need to improve how heat pumps are assembled, installed and repaired. Blond helped to develop proprietary software that makes it easier for contractors to size the system, therefore increasing the potential for more home installs.
"The system will appeal to installers who are often the ones recommending products and systems to clients," Melia said.
"If they can see that installing the Electric Air systems is much easier because of how it's designed that will help increase uptake considerably."
The heat pump's stacked aesthetic is designed to allow a technician to conduct repairs or servicing by opening one of the hatches rather than having to remove a large cover.
This configuration also reduces costs relating to manufacturing, shipping and disassembly, according to Blond.
Alongside the hardware, the studio created a brand identity that complements the product's minimal and timeless design language. Blond chose a simple logo and versatile Neue Montreal font to provide visual balance and legibility.
A monochromatic colour palette is used for all of the products, with pops of green, blue and red adding what Blond described as "a lifestyle sensibility and softness to the brand".
The agency also developed the user interface for the thermostat, the user control app and the website that Electric Air is using to take pre-orders ahead of its US launch in winter 2024.
In lieu of a full-scale prototype, which is costly to produce for a start-up when it comes to a product of this scale, Blond's renders give prospective customers an idea of what the products will look like before production is complete.
The studio often collaborates with start-ups to reimagine common product typologies.
Previously, Blond has designed a stripped-back bank card for Revolut and the packaging for refillable deodorant Fussy.
The images are courtesy of Blond.