Evidence and status
What is demonstrated, what is modeled, and what is still a target.
Every public AReCoS claim, sorted by the evidence behind it today. A prototype's numbers change as it is tested, and this table changes with them.
On the record a legal record
Demonstrated shown on hardware
In progress testing under way
Modeled from the AReCoS physics model
Design target what the design is for, to be tested
Not yet certified no certificate or listing yet
| Claim | Status | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Controller patent: U.S. Patent 12,768,557 | On the record | Issued October 20, 2026, from application 18/592,624 (USPTO). |
| Air–water heat exchanger: patent pending | On the record | U.S. provisional application 63/751,603. |
| The controller sets the compressor, electronic expansion valve, blower and fan together | Demonstrated | A hardware test on a vapor-compression system in cooling, published in US 2024/0295337 A1, FIGS. 4 to 7. Cooling only. |
| The controller optimizes rooftop units with a building system | In progress | Being tested with Oak Ridge National Laboratory under a research agreement (CRADA) supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, October 2025 to April 2027. |
| Heats through frost with no reverse-cycle defrost in normal operation; a fallback defrost if frost clearing faults | Design target | To be tested in a chamber at the rating and frost points and down to 0 °F (how). |
| Rooftop unit: 100% of its 47 °F rated heating capacity at 0 °F, at least 70% at −15 °F | Design target | Capacity at the unit; whether a building needs backup also depends on its load and the size chosen. |
| Residential unit: at least 70% of its 47 °F rated capacity at 0 °F | Design target | As above. |
| Rooftop unit: IEER 22.1, EER 13.4, COP 3.72 at 47 °F and 2.57 at 17 °F (10-ton) | Modeled Not yet certified | Prototype design estimates, to be updated during certification. |
| Residential unit: SEER2 23.8, HSPF2 10.9 (5-ton ducted split) | Modeled Not yet certified | Prototype design estimates, to be updated during certification. |
| Designed for UL 60335-2-40 listing, AHRI 340/360 ratings and ASHRAE 90.1 | Not yet certified | Standards the design targets; no listing or rating is held yet. |
| Dual-fuel: the controller picks the cheaper heat, hour by hour | Design target | Dual-fuel configuration in prototype development (how). |
| Homes with a gas furnace: about 32% lower heating emissions and 19% lower heating bills | Modeled | Ten typical Minnesota homes, simple changeover at 14 °F, a clean frost-free coil (an upper bound), and a utility residential space-heating rate. |
| One 10-ton rooftop unit: 5,000–8,000 kWh, $650–1,050 and 2–3 t CO2e a year | Modeled | Against a heat pump unit at the federal minimum efficiency, in a Minneapolis building (method). |
| Grid response: hold a kW cap, shed 15% on request or 40% in a critical event, add 15% | Design target | Comfort, duration and recovery limits apply to each request. |
| Counts the refrigerant charge and names the likely cause of a fault | Design target | Designed from a physics model of the machine on the controller. |
| No command path from the internet; the cloud only monitors | Design target | An architecture choice in the design (security). |
| CO2: about 26% of the cooling per unit of power lost ten bar below the best pressure | Modeled | AReCoS cycle model, 35 °C day. The cost of the wrong pressure, not a saving against a well-tuned controller. Not yet run on a CO2 machine. |
| Two-stage ammonia: 11.6 °C off the hottest point for about a sixth of a percent | Modeled | AReCoS cycle model. Not yet run on an ammonia machine; any gain in compressor life is to be validated. |
| Ground-ready: a ground loop can join later without replacing the unit | Design target | The loop itself is sized, piped and commissioned for the site. |