This week, two cool things happened that don't usually happen in the same week.
Canary Media published a feature on heat pump group buys, including the California Heat Pump Group Buy we ran with VoltHub this Spring.
And we just launched a Summer 2026 Group Buy.
What Canary Media found
The article looks at programs across the country that pool homeowner demand for heat pumps. The mechanics are simple: when an installer can buy equipment in bulk and schedule a batch of jobs in advance instead of chasing leads one at a time, costs drop. Those savings get passed back (typically 10–20% per install), which works out to thousands of dollars.
The price was right for Mittens. Mittens is a furry participant of a heat pump group buy that took place in Massachusetts organized by Laminar Collective.
It's the Costco principle. A group splitting a 12-pack of muffins pays less per muffin than someone buying one at Starbucks. Disclaimer: Costco's HVAC services work very different than Costco muffins. Perhaps we can unpack that in a later post.
Our trusted sources say that Costco Muffins live up to the hype. Just like heat pump group buys.
There's a second benefit the article gets right: group buys remove the sales pressure. You join a list, get a real assessment, see a real quote, and decide on your own timeline. Nobody is sitting at your kitchen table waiting for a signature.
One thing we’d add from our own experience: there's also something to not doing this whole heat pump thing alone. A heat pump is a big decision, and most people make it solo (though, sometimes with the moral support of kind strangers on reddit). In a group buy, you're one of dozens of California households making the switch at the same time. One homeowner in the Canary piece called it empowering.
Reminds us of this happy fellow from California Heat Pump Week. Who doesn’t want to be as smiley as this guy when it’s all said and done? But I digress.
Homeowner posing with his outdoor heat pump unit for the first ever California Heat Pump Week, hosted by Switch is On.
The summer 2026 round
We're running it again for the greater SF Bay Area and the LA area. The structure:
Join by July 30. The summer cohort closes when we hit capacity or the deadline, whichever comes first.
Installs begin fall 2026. The earlier you join, the earlier we install.
Pooled demand, better pricing. Same mechanism the article describes.
And the headline change for this round: pricing is lower than previous group buys. We’re talking thousands of dollars lower for most system configurations. If you priced this out in the spring and held off, the math has changed.
Who this is for
A group buy works if you can wait a few months. Most HVAC replacements are emergencies. The furnace quits in January and you need heat now. That's not what this is. This is for those who know they want to upgrade, but are not in a hurry.
If your system is aging, you've been thinking about going all-electric, and you'd rather plan the replacement than have it ambush you on the hottest day of the year, this is the cheapest, calmest way to do it. Check out the details and drop us a line if you think this is a fit for you!
