Reliable and affordable home heating in the winter is essential, as residents of northern regions across the country can attest. As energy prices have continued to climb, homeowners face record costs for heating and cooling. At the same time, extreme weather events have threatened grid reliability in regions across the country, sometimes leaving many houses without power and heat during cold snaps. Recognizing that there is a need for effective home heating solutions, the private sector is stepping up.

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One such company is Alexandria, Virginia-based Enginuity Power Systems. It develops advanced appliances and hybrid generators. Enginuity’s CEO, Jacques Beaudry-Losique, recently joined John Hart on Tech Voices to discuss Enginuity’s innovative solutions that address power outages and residential heating costs.

Beaudry-Losique, or JBL as he is often called, has been in the energy and climate space for years. He worked at the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy under the Bush and Obama administrations, before becoming the CEO of Enginuity Power Systems in 2019. 

The company is looking to create a system that addresses the trifecta of home heating: cost, reliability, and efficiency. With its flagship product, the E|ONE™, Enginuity believes that it has created an appliance that reduces heating costs for consumers, is reliable, and is incredibly efficient. 

Similar in size to a conventional water heater, the E|ONE™ is an appliance that heats homes, provides hot water, and provides backup generation in the case of power outages. As JBL tells us: 

“Basically think about [the E|ONE as] an appliance that makes electricity two or three times more efficiently than the grid. In the course of creating the home’s power, the E|ONE also provides the heat and hot water for the home essentially for free. Since two requirements for a comfortable home are heat and power, we replace three appliances—your backup generator, your furnace, and your water heater and in some cases grid power when it’s cost-effective for you to make your own power.”

He adds: “There’s tens of millions of homes in the U.S. that could benefit from that micro-combined heat and technology…you never experience outages, you’re able to save money, and you reduce your carbon footprint at the same time.” 

The E|ONE™, which will hit markets in the next few years, features an opposed-piston, four-stroke engine that is small and economical, allowing it to fit well in homes while producing quiet and efficient power. The system runs primarily on natural gas and propane, but Beaudry-Losique believes that it will soon be powered by hydrogen when the fuel becomes cost-effective. According to Enginuity’s website, the system can last 20 years under normal conditions. And, given its highly efficient design, the E|ONE™ only needs to run for a few hours per day to produce 8 KW of electricity—enough to power an average-sized home. 

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Enginuity is unique in that it tries “to develop green technologies that don’t cost the user more money to implement, unlike most green technologies so far,” according to JBL. While savings from transitioning to an E|ONE™ vary based on zip code, a 3,000-square-foot home can expect to save over $200 per month in reduced heating and power costs. 

In addition to home appliances, Enginuity Power Systems is working closely with the Department of Defense. The company is developing a portable hybrid generator to replace the military’s current 2, 3, and 5 KW generators. Enginuity’s new system will be able to produce 2-5 KW of power with a generator that is half the size of the 5 KW generators that DoD uses today. These new generators will be highly efficient, which will lead to reduced maintenance costs in the field and a smaller heat and noise signature. 

Enginuity’s work with the military may have commercial applications as well. Contractors, for instance, could use these generators to power a project while creating less noise, which would benefit both workers and nearby residents. 

As homeowners face higher energy costs and the grid becomes increasingly strained, Enginuity’s solutions are needed more than ever. The company’s work is yet another testament to the innovation of the private sector in solving our greatest energy and environmental challenges. 

The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.