FAQ
Everything you need to know about all-season heat pumps.
AReCoS was founded in 2023 to make heat pumps a real choice in every season: heating that keeps going in the cold, without handing the building back to gas or resistance heat.
Company
Who we are.
When was AReCoS founded?
AReCoS was founded in 2023 with one goal: make heat pumps a real choice for heating and cooling, including in the coldest hours of the year, when most air-source units stop to defrost and hand the heating to gas or resistance strips.
What does AReCoS make?
Our first product is an all-season heat pump rooftop unit for light commercial buildings, up to 10 tons. The same platform in a residential size, up to 5 tons, comes next, and small chillers after that.
We also supply our embedded controller for refrigeration systems and chiller plants, and license it to automakers for vehicle thermal systems.
Who does AReCoS serve?
Building owners and managers, HVAC contractors, distributors and utility efficiency programs for our heat pumps; equipment manufacturers for our first builds; refrigeration and chiller operators for our controller; and automakers for vehicle programs.
What stands behind the technology?
A U.S. patent allowed on our embedded controller in July 2026 (application 18/592,624), a U.S. provisional patent application on our water-cooled condenser, a published hardware test in which the controller ran a vapor-compression system and set every actuator together, and a validation program with a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory running from October 2025 to April 2027.
Who leads the company?
AReCoS is led by its founder, Ahmed Hussein, PhD, inventor of the embedded controller and the water-cooled condenser, with technical leads in controls and physics. More about the founder.
The heat pump RTU
How it works.
What is the AReCoS all-season heat pump RTU?
An air-source heat pump rooftop unit with an innovative water-cooled condenser designed to prevent frosting, and the AReCoS embedded controller on board. It heats in winter and cools in summer from one unit.
Why does frost matter so much?
In cold, humid weather an air-source heat pump's outdoor coil collects frost. To clear it, the unit reverses into a defrost cycle and stops heating the building, often in the coldest hours, while resistance strips or a gas furnace take over. Heat pumps have worked this way since the 1940s. Our unit is designed to keep heating without stopping for defrost cycles.
How cold can it keep heating?
The rooftop unit is designed to deliver 100% of its rated heating capacity at 0 °F (−18 °C) and at least 70% at −15 °F (−26 °C). Each target is 5 °F colder than the U.S. Department of Energy cold-climate rooftop unit specification.
What does "ground-ready" mean?
The unit runs as an air-source heat pump from day one. Its water loop is designed to connect externally to a ground loop later, when the owner is ready, without replacing the unit. Owners avoid paying for a ground loop up front, and keep the option to add one.
What refrigerant does it use?
R-454B, an A2L refrigerant with a global warming potential of 466, under the EPA AIM Act limit of 700 for new equipment. The unit carries a refrigerant detection system and leak mitigation to UL 60335-2-40.
Which standards is it designed to meet?
It is designed to be safety-listed to UL 60335-2-40 and rated to AHRI 340/360 (and AHRI 210/240 below 65,000 Btu/h), to meet U.S. DOE and ASHRAE 90.1 minimum efficiency, with refrigerant safety to ASHRAE 15 and 34, and BACnet (ASHRAE 135) at the building interface.
Does it cool in extreme heat?
Yes, it is designed to keep cooling above about 45 °C (113 °F), where many rooftop units shut off on high pressure.
Does it need a cloud connection?
No. The embedded controller optimizes the unit on the unit itself. It works under your building automation system, which sets the goals, such as setpoints and schedules, and it needs no internet link into the equipment.
Reserving and buying
Getting one of the first units.
When will the first units be available?
We are targeting first commercial units in 2027.
How do I reserve a place?
Put your name on the list with the reservation form. There is no payment and no obligation. You will hear from us when the first units are scheduled, and the list is how we decide where they go.
Who builds the units?
We plan to build our first units with a small number of established manufacturers rather than in a plant of our own. The design, the controller and the water-cooled condenser are ours. Before sale, each model will be safety-listed by a nationally recognized testing laboratory and its performance certified through an independent industry rating program.
Can contractors, distributors and utilities get involved now?
Yes. Contractors and distributors can reserve on behalf of their customers, and building owners can offer to host one of the first units. Utility and efficiency programs are welcome to talk to us about pilots. Contact us.
The controller
One controller, many machines.
What does the AReCoS embedded controller do?
It runs a physics model of the refrigerant cycle on the equipment, estimates what its sensors can't measure, and sets the compressor, valves, fans and pumps together, instead of giving each actuator its own loop. A second model screens its commands for likely component failures before they are sent.
Can I use it on my own equipment?
Yes. We fit the controller to refrigeration systems and chiller plants and supply it, and it is designed to run standard components from different manufacturers. See the product brief.
Do you work with vehicles?
Yes. We are developing an EV heat pump, and we license our controller to automakers for their own cabin and battery thermal systems. EV heat pump and controller.
Still have a question?
Ask us about the heat pump, the first units or the controller.
Michigan 49546