These heat pumps can be installed in an hour—and will cut costs in half

# Heat Pumps Just Got Way Cheaper and Faster to Install A new startup called Merino Energy has designed heat pumps that take just one hour to install instead of eight, cutting the typical cost in half to around $3,800 per unit. The company was founded by Mary Ann Rau, a former Apple designer who was shocked to pay $40,000 to heat and cool her own home efficiently, and she realized that difficult installation—not the technology itself—was the main reason these systems stayed expensive and unpopular.