This is Aros, a Wi-Fi connected air conditioner aimed at energy-conscious consumers that Quirky and GE are launching today. It's by far the biggest and most complicated product that Quirky has ever built, and it aims to help solve truly endemic problem: The window a/c unit, which has remained pretty much unchanged since the 1970s. It's been over six months since Quirky and GE announced a partnership, wedding one of the youngest and one of the oldest producers of consumer technology. Though they've released a menagerie of "connected" gadgets in the time since, Aros feels like the team's first earnest product. As Quirky CEO Ben Kaufman told me, it's been in the works since the partnership was announced. "We want Quirky to be a company that makes invention accessible, not just cool kitchen gadgets and fun toys," he says. "And GE gives us the ability to take on these really complex inventions." Like all of Quirky's products, Aros was the idea of a community member: Dr. Garthen Leslie, a former Department of Energy employee based in Maryland who uploaded the idea to Quirky's forums after contemplating a/c units hanging off the sides of buildings on a hot summer day.

"I was tired of choosing between wasting energy or suffering through the stuffy summer heat," he explains.By Thanksgiving of last year, the team at GE—which has built window air conditioners for 70 years—were hard at work on the concept. For them, the project was on a nearly unthinkably short schedule. how to determine size for ac unit"I thought these guys were crazy," laughs GE Appliances' Kevin Nolan. size of ac unit for houseBut, he adds, GE is getting something out of the deal, too: "We as a company are learning a lot about how we can be bolder and take more risks." components of home ac unitNormally, an a/c unit like Aros would take about a year to design. Today, less than six months later, Leslie's idea is a gleaming reality. For a product that claims to reinvent a category, Aros has a low price point—$300—which is roughly on par with similar products.

That's because it didn't require the reinvention of the air conditioner. Instead, GE and Quirky have built a conventional in-window a/c that can cool up to 350 square feet with 8,000 BTU. They've added some nice detailing, too, like upward airflow, three cooling and fan modes, insulating fabric panels, and a sleek front-facing paneling. What makes it smart is the software, which is linked to Quirky's smart home app, Wink. With it, Aros is tethered to your Wi-Fi, and you can use your phone like a remote. Turn it on when you're about to get home, or make sure it's off when you leave. It will learn when you're home, when you use it, and build you a schedule—a bit like Nest's thermostat, for those without central air. Aros is definitely built for the money-minded user, too. One in-app feature will let you set a budget for your monthly energy bill. When you get close to your limit, Aros will let you know, avoiding a nasty end-of-month surprise on your bill. This kind of functionality isn't particularly new for other appliances.

After all, we can do the same with Quirky's line of smart gadgets, from the egg saver to the power strip. But neither of those products responded to true problems. In fact, they feel like practice runs in the Quirky/GE partnership, a novel way for the companies to beta test Wink and iron out any wrinkles the supply chain. The energy-hogging, dumb-as-a-brick, ultra-ubiquitous in-window a/c unit? That's a problem—the sort that Quirky and GE seem uniquely qualified to solve by adding smart software flourishes to existing appliance. According to Kaufman, it's a taste of things to come. "You're going to see less gadgets and doo-dads and more sophisticated products that are completely rethought categories," he adds. Until we have a chance to try one, it's impossible to tell just how much of a difference Aros will make on your energy bill, but let's hope it delivers on its promises—and that the next problem GE and Quirky take on is as relevant. You can pre-order Aros on Amazon starting today for $300.

As incomes rise around the world, people get to live more comfortably, which includes being able to afford air conditioning. Staying cool is good, but the demand for more AC will also cause consumers to use more electricity causing stress on energy prices, infrastructure, and environmental policy, according to a new study. The study introduces a new energy model that examines the relationship among climate, income growth, and air conditioning adoption. Reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the findings point to significant potential global impacts from air conditioning usage and the authors call for action now. “In the near future, over a billion people in Africa, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and other low and middle income countries will be able to purchase their first air conditioner resulting in a massive increase in energy demand,” says study coauthor Paul Gertler, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

“Now is the time for the public and private sectors to collaborate and develop infrastructures capable of accommodating rising demand, as well build air conditioners that are more energy efficient and more affordable for poorer populations. “In China alone, sales of air conditioners have nearly doubled over the last five years,” says coauthor Professor Lucas Davis. “Meeting the increased demand for electricity in the future will be an enormous challenge requiring trillions of dollars of infrastructure investments and potentially resulting in billions of tons of increased carbon dioxide emissions.” Davis and Gertler analyzed data on 27,000 households in Mexico, a country with varied climates ranging from those that are hot, humid, and tropical to dry deserts and high-altitude plateaus. At all income levels in the cool areas of the country, the data showed little air conditioning usage present, 10 percent or less. In the warm areas, air conditioning increases steadily with income—2.7 percent per $1,000 of annual household income—to reach almost 80 percent.

Assuming conservative increases in income and temperature increases, the model predicts near universal saturation of air conditioning in all warm areas within just a few decades—primarily correlated to income growth. In Mexico, this combination of a massive increase in air conditioning adoption and increased use due to rising temperatures means that energy expenditures are forecast to increase by 81 percent. However, Gertler and Davis contend that future technological changes and higher electricity prices will likely lower this estimate. The global impact of increased air conditioning heats up even further when population is factored in. The study compared population, annual gross domestic product per capita (GDP in thousands), and the annual “cooling degree days” or CDDs in 12 countries with mostly warmer climates. CDDs are units used to measure energy demand. A cooling degree day is the number of degrees that a day’s average temperature is above 65º Fahrenheit and people start to use air conditioning to cool their buildings.