Tapping the heat beneath your feet with Kathy Hannun of Dandelion Energy

How I Built This · 8 Jun 2023 · 31m

What this episode covers

Kathy Hannun, founder of Dandelion Energy, explains how she spun out the geothermal heating company from Google’s X lab to make ground-source heat pumps accessible for US homeowners. She details the initial failure of a contractor marketplace model and the pivotal decision to vertically integrate by hiring their own installers, which drastically improved economics and customer experience. Hannun discusses the technical advantages of geothermal over air-source systems, the impact of federal tax credits, and the company's expansion into new construction and new markets.

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Hardware to Save a Planet · 43m

    The Geothermal Breakthrough: Heating Homes Smarter, Cheaper, and Cleaner with Dan Yates

    Dan Yates, CEO of Dandelion Energy, explains how the company is scaling geothermal heat pumps by partnering with production homebuilders like Lennar to drive down installation costs and eliminate mobilization expenses. He details the technical advantages of ground-source systems over air-source heat pumps, particularly their ability to reduce peak grid load by avoiding expensive resistance heating during extreme cold. Yates also discusses how federal tax credits and new leasing models are making geothermal viable for mainstream consumers, while noting that hiring and training remain the primary bottlenecks to nationwide scaling.

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  • Catalyst · 41m

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    Paul Lambert, founder and CEO of Quilt, explains why heat pump adoption is stalled by poor customer experience, high installation costs, and technician resistance. He details Quilt's vertically integrated model, which controls the entire value chain from manufacturing to installation to reduce labor and material costs. Lambert highlights that hardware is only ~20% of the total cost, with labor and materials like copper line sets driving the rest, and discusses strategies to simplify installation and improve aesthetics to drive mass market adoption.

  • Catalyst · 1h 01m

    Could geothermal become a major zero-emissions player?

    Jamie Beard, executive director of Project Innerspace, discusses the potential for 'geothermal anywhere' technologies to scale globally by overcoming subsurface risks and financing gaps. He explains how enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) and closed-loop technologies can replicate Iceland's success worldwide, while highlighting the critical need to leverage the oil and gas industry's drilling expertise and workforce. Beard also covers the role of geothermal heat pumps in decarbonizing heating and the challenges of securing venture capital and government support for first-of-a-kind projects.

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