The Quilt heat pump sports a sleek design from veterans of Apple, Tesla and Nest

Heating and cooling are generally pretty boring things, done by appliance-like boxes with uninspired design, from sheet metal exterior units to cheap plastic interior mini-splits.

No duvet.

The heat pump startup revealed its first products Wednesday, and they sport the kind of sleek, intuitive designs you’d expect from veterans of Apple, Nest, Google, and Tesla. Each unit is intended to heat and cool a single room, and there is an app and thermostat-like dial from which customers can adjust the temperature throughout their home. Additionally, the appearance of the interior mini-split can be customized. Want your unit to stand out? Specify it with oak wood veneer. Do you want this to blend in? Quilt will allow you to paint or wallpaper the front panel to match its surroundings.

While design is a big part of the appeal, the startup wants to improve the overall heat pump experience. This streamlines the purchasing and installation process, with Quilt there every step of the way, including permitting and installation. Total cost for a single zone: $6,499 before discounts.

The price is just above the median cost of installing a single-zone heat pump, according to Rewiring America. For open floor plans that can be packaged with a single unit, Quilt is a great deal. But for people who want to redo their entire home with Quilt, including every room, the cost will add up, pushing it above Rewiring America’s median estimates for the entire home.

Quilt is highly valued not only for its design, but also for its functionality. The outdoor unit is rated at 18,000 BTUs and can maintain 90% of its heating capacity down to -13 degrees F. Each indoor unit can pump 9,000 BTUs and two can be connected to a single outdoor unit . The refrigerant that circulates in the system, R-32, has a lower global warming potential than the more widely used R-410a. The system’s efficiency and performance ratings place it in the high-end segment of the market.

In addition to indoor and outdoor units that echo vintage Apple designs, the system is packed with computing power. The Dial, featuring a touchscreen and rotary control, can control multiple rooms and is compatible with Thread and Matter smart home communications protocols. An app also allows iOS and Android users to control set points throughout the home and customize how the system will respond when rooms are unoccupied.

The Sense module, suspended below the mini-split, addresses the computing needs of a single zone, including the millimeter-wave occupancy sensor that promises to be more accurate than passive infrared sensors, which can create false dim signals. vacancy if people don’t do it. move. This means that Quilt should be more effective at keeping a room warm or cool when watching TV or sleeping.

Quilt’s indoor units are also remarkably short, allowing them to be installed above windows and doors, locations that customers often request but that other mini-splits cannot accommodate. In a fun touch, they also feature customizable color accent lighting.

The company is taking pre-orders starting Wednesday, and installations will begin this summer in the San Francisco Bay Area. Los Angeles residents will follow in the fall and Quilt will expand to subsequent regions based on booking demand. Last month, Quilt raised a $33 million Series A to help commercialize its heat pumps. The goal was to transform the company from an “R&D organization” into a “real business,” co-founder and CEO Paul Lambert said at the time.