If you have a window AC unit, ductless air conditioner, or even a portable option, you're probably familiar with those accompanying old-school white remotes. You know, the ones that look like they were created back in the '90s, with tons of buttons that you probably don't use — and good luck if you lose it.
But a new startup is shaking things up to save you energy and give you the freedom to control any of your units straight from your phone.
Klima is a smart thermostat, but unlike Nest or Ecobee, it's specifically designed for people who live somewhere with ductless heating and cooling systems (i.e., not central air), like ductless heat pumps (you may have heard the terms mini-splits or air-to-air heat pumps), wall units, or portable air conditioners. In fact, those other smart thermostats like Nest don't work with ductless systems.
And here's the magic — Klima works with literally any cooling product that has a remote with a display, from any manufacturer, at any age, from old A/C units to the newest heat pumps, just as long as it's ductless.
In an exclusive conversation with The Cool Down, Madi Ablyazov, the CEO and founder of Boldr (the company that makes the Klima thermostat), walked us through how the tech works and how much money it can save users.
How does a smart thermostat save people money?
Ablyazov said studies show that using a smart thermostat like the Klima model can save homeowners as much as 26% on their monthly energy bills. That's because beyond just making your life more convenient, Klima helps automate and optimize your home's climate.
In fact, according to the Department of Energy, over 40% of a home's utility bill goes to heating and cooling, which means being able to monitor your energy consumption in real time — and make adjustments based on your lifestyle habits — goes a long way toward lowering your monthly energy bills.
The next-gen thermostat retails for $165 from Klima's website or on Amazon and includes advanced energy-saving features like smart scheduling, cost monitoring, and whole home climate control (more on that next).
How simple is the installation process?
Klima's technology is designed to be incredibly simple — installation should take less than a minute.
Point the remote for your unit at the Klima smart thermostat, which is connected to Wi-Fi (your actual unit does not need to be). Klima identifies your device down to the manufacturer and model via infrared signals, and then you never need to use that remote ever again. Instead, the Klima thermostat can automatically control things from there as long as it is in the same room as the A/C unit to send it the same signals as your remote would.
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Once a year 👼 It can turn a ductless unit on or off when you're not home, when you're on vacation, or even when you're just in another room. And while you can manually turn the thermostat on or off, the easiest way to control the temperature remotely is through the Klima app on your phone.
Klima can also sense the temperature, humidity, and other factors in your home and adjust — for example, if you've left a window or balcony door open, it can shut off so you're not wasting energy.
"It's an economical and highly efficient way of retrofitting your home for air conditioning or heating," Ablyazov said. "It's like one of those universal remotes from the '90s."
What problems does Klima solve?
Klima is a great way to maintain total home temp control for the growing number of people buying ductless heat pumps, like mini-splits, that are set up for specific rooms. In fact, heat pumps have currently outpaced the sales of gas furnaces in the U.S.
It's also a great way for homeowners to modernize their home if they have old-school A/C wall units — since Klima can now offer them the same energy efficiency that Nest provides for users with central air.
And with temperatures rising across the globe due to a warming planet, air conditioner sales are also up, including in places where they have traditionally not been common. This means that making AC units more efficient is even more important, as it helps reduce planet-warming pollution.
Any specific examples of the Klima in action?
In addition to Klima helping homeowners and renters keep their energy bills low, the smart thermostat also solves a particularly thorny problem for Airbnbs, where renters might forget to turn off the A/C when they leave.
With Klima, owners can schedule the A/C or heating to turn off when their renters depart, while still giving renters the ability to adjust the temperature right on the thermostat if needed during their stay. "Because energy bills are a big part of the margin for Airbnbs, it helps owners control it," Ablyazov said.
The Klima team also works directly with contractors to help keep them connected with their clients. When a contractor installs the Klima thermostat alongside a heat pump or A/C unit, they're able to track performance of the heat pump and help remind homeowners when they need to replace the filter or get maintenance.
"It's a matter of time before this is bundled alongside every single heat pump sold in the U.S.," Ablyazov predicted.
The bigger vision
Klima and the other products from Boldr — including a smart portable heater called Kelvin — are part of a larger plan from the company's three co-founders.
"On our website, it seems as though we're just a simple producer of energy-saving, intelligent home climate products, but actually we have a much bigger vision," Ablyazov explained.
"The big problem is that of the energy grid — that it's struggling to keep up with the rising demand for energy with electrification, artificial intelligence, and electric vehicles. It's growing at such a pace that the grid is struggling to keep up."
Typically, grid operators contract with fossil fuel-based plants to meet that increased demand, which is harmful to the environment and expensive to maintain. "It's a big problem, growing really fast, and it needs real tech to solve," Ablyazov said.
Which is why Boldr's co-founders have a vision for "a residential power plant that allows homeowners to connect various energy-intensive devices in their home," he said.
"We will help you optimize the usage to reduce your bills and connect you to the grid operators so you can be an active member of the grid, to shift energy into the grid in peak moments, or shift your usage of AC from peak times to off-peak times, which means less fossil fuels being burned."
They believe the fastest way to realize this vision is to start with heating and cooling — in this case, the roughly 8% of the U.S. market that uses ductless systems like mini-splits, air-to-air heat pumps, and window and portable A/C units.
"It's really a small subset which is growing at double digits and is a fast-growing part of the HVAC systems in the U.S. largely because they're easy to retrofit where the building is really old."
Boldr's primary mission for now, though, is focused on building hardware — like Klima and Kelvin, with more to come — and software that makes it easier and rewarding for customers to be more energy efficient.
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