Feeling the Impact
Advances in heat pump technology deliver comfort and peace of mind
Katelyn (Katie) Woodling Manager of Product Management, Bosch Home Comfort
Consumers at the moment may not be well versed on the finer points of heat pumps. But this is likely to rapidly change over the next few years.
"In the next five to ten years, it will probably become the most common type of heating and cooling equipment installed," says Bosch's Katie Woodling.
Katie leads air conditioning product management for Bosch Home Comfort in North America. Heat pumps do exactly as their name suggests: They move heat. Just as a refrigerator uses the magic of gas compression to transfer heat from inside a space to the outside, heat pumps use it to move heat from the outside in. They can also work in reverse to cool the home. This means a heat pump alone can take the place of an air conditioner and gas furnace. One example, the Bosch IDS Ultra Cold Climate Heat Pump, demonstrates the performance of the latest generations even in extreme temperatures.
Heat pumps have been around for a long time, but interest has picked up as the latest technology positions them to help reduce carbon emissions. Though homes receive less attention than cars and power plants, they are a major source of emissions.
"People may not think HVAC is exciting, but I feel a lot of personal satisfaction knowing I'm making a difference in climate change in my day-to-day work. I feel good about the products we're launching."
With roughly half a home's energy use going to heating and cooling, attention is turning to more efficient systems that don't use natural gas. That leads to heat pumps, which besides sporting new innovations are also benefiting from government incentives to offset installation costs.
"The everyday consumer asks their contractor what to do when replacing equipment. A lot of that growing awareness will come from contractors, and they are absolutely becoming more aware of rebates and incentives. Consumer awareness is going to increase substantially."
The U.S. heat pump market is set to double by 2028, according to Bosch research.
The next-generation heat pumps gaining traction these days can handle the extremes of cold and heat experienced throughout North America. They also can help to dramatically lower utility bills, depending on where a home is located. Because they're electrically-powered, they largely eliminate the need for fuels such as natural gas. If the source of the electricity happens to be renewable, emissions fall further still.
"Now heat pumps can keep your home just as comfortable as a gas furnace does, even in the dead of winter."
Like her grandfather, and her father after him (who worked at NASA in facilities used for testing rocket engines), Katie opted for a career in mechanical engineering. "I chose mechanical engineering because it's the most broad — mechanical engineers work in a lot of different areas. People think of engineering as all number-crunching, math and physics, but when you think about it, it's solving real-world problems."
Bosch recruited Katie during a career fair at her alma mater, The Ohio State University, where she'd earned master's and bachelor's degrees. "Social responsibility mattered to me. Bosch was really focused on social responsibility, not just for day-to-day business but for the long term. Sustainability is a core value."
She entered Bosch's Junior Managers Program. In the program, Bosch associates rotate to widely varying roles and locations. For Katie, it was automotive in Michigan, manufacturing in South Carolina, packaging technology in Wisconsin, and smart agriculture at Bosch's global headquarters in Germany.
"Every six months I did something different. I got to grow up within Bosch."
Product management attracted Katie because it's at "the intersection of technology and business strategy."
Watching my team succeed is my favorite part of being a leader. I guide strategy and resources then watch them do it way better than I could. The final product is 10 times better. That's what gets me out of bed in the morning.
Besides a family legacy in engineering, she brings a long-held love for the environment to the job.
"I have loved being outside since I was a kid. I'm always camping and hiking. This idea of how I can apply mechanical engineering to real-world problems — it's a perfect match. How do I use technology to better the world? I can literally feel the impact of my work because it's the climate in the home. But there's also the bigger impact. When my nine-month-old daughter is my age, we will still have a world to run and play in."
