SAN FRANCISCO, July 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Gradient, a company built by thermal scientists to rethink HVAC and build products that are good for the planet and great at cooling and heating homes, is announcing the development of its first product, a replacement for the window AC. Gradient will replace the conventional home window AC with a more efficient, space-saving, better-designed solution that keeps homes cool with advanced heat pump technology and a climate-friendly refrigerant. Customers are invited to sign up now for the exclusive beta program at Gradientcomfort.com.

Air conditioning is essential to quality of life and work productivity, but the basic design of window air conditioners has not changed in 50 years. Too often, the very same air conditioning that makes life tolerable in hot weather is also contributing to making climate change worse; heating and cooling systems are responsible for 20% of global carbon emissions.

“Gradient has a mission to cool the world by transforming every home to be more comfortable and healthy for the people who inhabit it — without compromising the environment. We believe we can build a better home air conditioning solution while fighting climate change,” said Vince Romanin, CEO of Gradient. “Air conditioning is one of the most essential amenities to keep people comfortable and productive in a warming world, but too many people are struggling with antiquated window AC units that are clunky, noisy, heavy, and inefficient. Gradient offers a beautiful, intuitive design, a more efficient, sleek, quiet air conditioning experience, and climate-friendly refrigerants. Building a better air conditioner is one of the most effective ways to help people stay comfortable at home while helping to slash carbon emissions from HVAC systems.”

The Gradient is designed to be easy to install and does not block the view like a traditional window AC unit. It provides the benefits of a professional-grade heat pump system at a fraction of the cost.  It can provide cooling and heating year-round and is easy to use via mobile app.

Gradient was founded in 2017 and has raised over $13MM in venture funding; investors include Ajax Strategies, At One Ventures, Prime Coalition, Incite Ventures, Autodesk Foundation, Urban Us, Magic Hour, and leading Silicon Valley angels. The company has also received over $9MM in government grants from the U.S. Department of Energy, California Energy Commission, and California Strategic Growth Council.

“Home air conditioning is an underrated aspect of the overall conversation around climate change, and we see a big opportunity for Gradient to disrupt the home HVAC space by developing a much-improved, climate-friendly replacement for the traditional window unit AC,” said Milo Werner, Partner with Ajax Strategies. “Millions of Americans need an air conditioning solution, but their options are limited to out-of-date window and floor units that block their view, make a lot of noise, and contribute to climate change. The current technology has not improved in decades. As more people work from home, there is a higher level of consumer interest in getting a high-quality home air conditioner that really works. Gradient has a great product and an excellent team who are thinking creatively about addressing the needs of this market with a beautiful, intuitive, consumer-focused solution.”

Gradient spun out from Otherlab, a private R&D lab in San Francisco that has leveraged over $40MM in government grants to incubate hard tech companies in the manufacturing, energy, and robotics industries. Founded by thermal scientists and engineers, flanked by talent from juggernauts like Tesla and Nest, the Gradient team is uniquely qualified to solve this problem.

The Gradient solution will be available for sale nationwide in Spring 2022.  In the meantime, you can learn more and sign up for Gradient’s exclusive beta program at GradientComfort.com.

About Gradient

Gradient is rethinking HVAC. We build products that are good for the planet and great at keeping your home comfortable, starting with a replacement for the window AC. Gradient is founded by thermal scientists and engineers and flanked by talent from juggernauts like Tesla and Nest, all aligned behind a mission to cool the world. Gradient aims to reduce the carbon emissions from heating and cooling systems, which represent 20% of emissions globally. Backed by Otherlab, Gradient has secured over $9M in non-dilutive grants and over $13M in venture funding. To learn more, visit GradientComfort.com

Media Contact for Gradient:

Rebecca Silliman, Whipsmart PR
(510) 254-7615
315022@email4pr.com

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SOURCE Gradient

The post It is Time to Exchange the Window AC. Introducing Gradient: Stunning, Progressive, Local weather-Pleasant HVAC Options Designed for Client Wants appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Many San Franciscans know the feeling, that moment when it hits you: “I live here, and I’m lucky.”

I had one of those moments the other night at an outdoor dance class in Dolores Park. The class, “Roryography,” led by the choreographer Rory Davis, used to take place in a traditional dance studio but moved to the park during the coronavirus pandemic. It has stayed there ever since.

As we danced to “Jump” by the Pointer Sisters, guys playing basketball joined in. So did families with little kids. A colorful streetcar rumbled past as the setting sun cast a golden glow on the clouds in front of Sutro Tower.

As a longtime reporter and columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle, I wrote a lot about the city’s crises: fentanyl overdoses, homelessness, property crime, a hollowed-out downtown and exorbitant housing costs that have squeezed out the middle class. But I also wrote and recorded podcasts about the city’s beauty, parks, hikes, independent bookstores and movie houses, and incredibly creative people.

Now, as the new San Francisco bureau chief for The New York Times, I plan to continue shining a light on both sides of the city — the good and the bad. I’m excited to bring the full picture of San Francisco to a national audience and, hopefully, cover the beginnings of a recovery for the city I’ve called home for 24 years.

My dance friends were abuzz about my first byline in The Times. I had written about how frustrating, and just plain silly, it was to be constantly asked by outsiders: “You live in San Francisco? Are you OK?” One dancer said she had just returned from the Czech Republic where she was asked the same.

My story about San Francisco’s increasingly terrible reputation received plenty of other responses. One San Franciscan said she had just called a New Jersey flower shop to order a bouquet for a friend there, and the florist, upon hearing where she lived, asked if she was safe. Another recently traveled to Santa Barbara, where people reacted to his living in San Francisco as if he had told them that his dog died.

Since moving with her wife to Portland, Maine, over the summer, Ashley Kirzinger said she had been quizzed about San Francisco from just about everyone she encountered.

“They’re like: ‘Oh, San Francisco! I can see why you left there,’” she told me over the phone, mimicking the sound of disgust. “Everyone’s like: ‘The homelessness! The drugs! The crime!’”

All that is there, Kirzinger said — but so is the walkability, the beautiful parks, the great restaurant scene, the acceptance of L.G.B.T.Q. couples and the fun of swimming in the bay with the South End Rowing Club.

“I even liked taking BART!” she said with a laugh, referring to the region’s love-it-or-hate-it public transit system.

She and her wife moved to Maine because they could afford a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house there near the beach. In the Bay Area, they would have remained renters forever.

Still, she misses San Francisco. “I just think it’s magic,” she said.

I do, too, and I look forward to telling you its story.

For more:

The rest of the news

• The state’s education chief, Tony Thurmond, has announced that he is running for governor in 2026, The Associated Press reports.

• After a drop during the pandemic, community college enrollment in California is up — but students between 20 and 30 are lagging behind, CalMatters reports.

Southern California

• An Orange County doctor who specializes in treating L.G.B.T.Q. people has been charged with sexually assaulting nine patients, The Los Angeles Times reports.

• Dexter White, who was shot by Los Angeles police officers after they mistook his cellphone for a gun, was awarded $2.35 million in damages, The Los Angeles Times reports.

Central California

• Employees at Yosemite National Park worry that a government shutdown could threaten the tourism business that keeps them afloat, The Fresno Bee reports.

Northern California

• Mayor London Breed of San Francisco wants the city to require all recipients of county-funded welfare to undergo drug screening in order to be eligible for cash assistance, Politico reports.

• Four people were arrested for allegedly stealing $1,400 in contraceptive pills, medicine and other merchandise from a Target in San Mateo, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

• Cities across Northern California are turning to A.I. chatbots to answer residents’ questions and take in service requests about issues like potholes and graffiti, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Where we’re traveling

Today’s tip comes from Carolyn Coleman, who lives in Santa Cruz. Carolyn recommends seeing mosaic murals in Watsonville, along the Central Coast:

“The small agricultural community of Watsonville is becoming the ‘Barcelona of California’ thanks to an amazing mosaic art installation, led by the visionary creative Kathleen Crocetti of Community Arts & Empowerment, covering a downtown six-story parking garage adjacent to the courthouse, library and City Hall.

There are four 60-feet-tall vertical mosaic murals designed by the San Francisco artist and social activist Juan R. Fuentes, who grew up in the agricultural labor camps outside of Watsonville and was the first in his family to go to college.

Now the horizontal sections of the garage are being covered by smaller mosaic pieces with symbols and designs representing the various heritages of Watsonville’s people; 120 have been identified, including Indigenous, Latino, Asian, European, African and Polynesian.

The project involves the community in generating ideas for the pieces, with young people working as interns and volunteers to create the mosaics. The project is expected to be completed by the end of next year.”

Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We’ll be sharing more in upcoming editions of the newsletter.

Tell us

Our California playlist is ever evolving, based on your recommendations of songs that best represent the Golden State.

You can email us your choices at CAtoday@nytimes.com. Please include your full name, the city where you live and a few sentences about why your song deserves inclusion.

And before you go, some good news

Though the Disneyland park in Anaheim is best known for its kid-friendly amusements, in 1961 — six years after it opened its gilded gates — the theme park dreamed up a new kind of Disney experience for its older patrons: an all-night prom.

The prom received little coverage and many details of the evening are not widely known. But a series of never-published photographs from Life magazine’s archives gives viewers a window into the evening’s antics. Replete with poodle skirts and trolley rides, the images, now available online as part of the magazine’s tribute issue to Disney parks, tell the story of romance, adolescence and that singular Disneyland magic.

See the photographs and read more about the evening here.

Thanks for reading. We’ll be back tomorrow.

P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword.

Soumya Karlamangla, Maia Coleman and Briana Scalia contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at CAtoday@nytimes.com.

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