Heat pumps are the EVs of HVAC—so why aren’t we all using them?

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Stephen Lake, a highly successful engineer turned climate-tech entrepreneur, is here to explain why heating and cooling is the most overlooked piece of the decarbonization puzzle.

“A heat pump is just like an air conditioner. It's essentially an air conditioner that can work in two directions.” - Stephen Lake

After selling his last company to Google, Stephen founded Jetson to tackle one of the biggest—and slowest-moving—sectors of home energy: HVAC. From cold-weather performance to noise, he busts the myths about heat pumps and outlines why they haven’t hit mass adoption in North America.

Spoiler: it’s not the tech. It’s everything else—price, friction, contractors, complexity.

We talk about the $20K+ green premium, the maze of permits and rebates, and how Jetson is taking cues from Tesla and Apple to reimagine how HVAC gets done—from manufacturing to customer experience. This isn't just a better heat pump. It’s a better system. Hear how Stephen Lake plans to transform 100 million homes with clean heat.

🔹 What makes heat pumps 300% efficient (and why it’s not magic)
🔹 The hidden friction points that stall heat p adoption
🔹 Why cold-climate performance is no longer a dealbreaker
🔹 Lessons from scaling a vertically integrated climate tech startup

If you’ve ever wondered why heat pumps haven’t gone mainstream—or whether it should be part of your electrification journey—this is a conversation you can’t miss.

RESOURCES:

Connect with Stephen Lake:

• LinkedIn

Check out Jetson:

• Website | LinkedIn

“There's a hundred million homes today across the U.S. and Canada that have a gas furnace in the basement or crawl space or attic that should be upgraded to a heat pump.” - Stephen Lake