The Climate Control Product -Hiding In Plain Sight

It can often be a very simple idea, used in a clever way that solves a difficult problem. The Archimedes Screw used an existing resource, water and gravity - then used a mechanical arrangement to move water where it didn't want to go.

The Climabox is doing something similar. The resource that already exists: thousands of reversible heat pumps, capable of reversing their cycle and producing cooling. The clever bit is distributing this cooling around a home.

There is a wider conflict at play here.

A major flaw in the idea of climate control thinking, has been to think of heating and cooling as two distinct problems, that require two different solutions. Placing two sources of electrical demand. Requiring two sets of fluorinated gases, F-gas. For the same building.

With the value of Chinese air-conditioning exports to Europe rising 43% year-on-year in the first half of 2026… this very British little invention - Climabox - could be closing in on the tills of companies in China cashing in on cooling. (But it can just as well, handle heating.)

Could This Be The AC Killer?

First you need to understand the process Climabox utilises before you can really understand its impact.

But let's talk about air conditioning, AC, first. One of the key components of traditional cooling systems, climate control, is the use of F-Gas. And air conditioning has a problem. F-Gas or fluorinated gases even when they leak even a tiny bit, have a disproportionate effect on warming the planet.

This effect, this harm, has long been recognised. In Europe they are targeting the F-gases with the most potent effect, and grading them. Then legislating for eliminating the most difficult to deal with gases. The term they use to identify the nasty ones, is the GWP number (Global Warming Potential). The higher the number, the nastier the effect.

This is why the Climabox has such extreme potential. As Europe primes itself for a winter walloping from the weather of El Niño 2026, many pundits, politicians and physicists are looking past the potential pummelling our shores will experience this winter.

They are looking at next summer.

If. In 2027. Europe starts to experience the strongest El Niño on record, AC sales look on target to spike. The total stock of room air conditioners in the EU is projected to exceed 100 million by 2030, up from 57 million in 2020.

So what if 1 million of the F-gas reliant units were made redundant by an invention like Climabox, or 10 million AC units, or 100 million of them?

You see, Climabox isn't re-inventing the wheel. The wheel is there.

It's merely using an existing function that is present in millions of existing units, in fact in 'heat pump cooler' countries that is effectively what is already happening, reversible units make up the largest percentage of the existing 29.3 million units in the European Union according to the European Heat Pump Association.

This is really a clever distribution system. That doesn't need radiators.

What really changes the discussion is that the Climabox distribution system itself does not require an F-gas engineer to install. It connects to the water circuit of the heat pump rather than requiring a second refrigerant-based AC system.

In essence, there are strong signals, (subject to final test figures from the Building Research Establishment and the SAP Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) commencing for this product, that it will not eliminate the AC market. It will enable systems that have existing reversible heat pumps, or these pumps being fitted, to reduce the duplication of F-gas requirements in thousands, possibly millions of properties.

Who's It Competing Against?

Truth be told, this is a tough one. We had already started scratching our heads at InstallerSHOW 2025 when we first discovered Climabox. You can see similarities between the concept used in the Unico System, or the Clivet FULLNESS (CiSDN-M EP 1 MR). But beyond that - there isn't many competitors. It's that unique.

Is It Ready To Use?

The million unit question is, can you install this winter into your own home? Technically you could. But it would be housed in the prototype housing you can see featured in the video we made visiting the HQ in Bristol.

Production is yet to begin on the compact, installer friendly unit pictured in our video, but it is coming, well it's already here.

In fact the Climabox is already installed in houses across the UK. Including a few very important ones.

Notably, a University test house in Salford. That's the difference between Climabox and some of the nascent competitors who are aspiring to reach this market. Climabox has two distinct advantages.

It's Already Being Adopted

Its potential benefits have already been spotted by local Housing Associations. One local HA is getting the Climabox system installed, stacked into its own social housing, as we speak.

Two Rivers Housing, based in Gloucestershire realised the difference Climabox could make, as Joe Gordon - Assistant Director of Assets told us;

"Two Rivers Housing owns and manages more than 4,500 homes. Our challenge along with sector peers is no longer limited to improving fabric performance or reducing carbon emissions. As homes become better insulated, we must also manage heat retention, ventilation and indoor environmental quality more carefully."

Joe and his team have a lot of incentives, not least that regulations that Climabox helps support, could be achieved;

"Part O, Part L, the Future Homes Standard and Awaab’s Law are sharpening the focus on homes that are efficient, safe and resilient. This makes Climabox particularly relevant as a practical test of how housing providers can respond to overlapping regulatory pressures while maintaining comfort, safety and performance for residents."

That's why they are installing a pilot project in two large blocks consecutively. Which offers the opportunity to compare both blocks' performance independently.

It's Patented

The second less obvious advantage, is the patented technology which in the advanced versions of the deployed units, will be tested with room by room controls, and one additional air quality resource, which when we went to print, were not able to reveal. But needless to say, it is going to offer another reason why this invention, this system changing unit, is going to rock a lot of boats.

What's Next?

The reality is the founder, inventor and patent holder of the Climabox system isn't interested in the money - I mean, he needs to recover the substantial development costs. But, he wants to leave a legacy.

Ehjaz Khan comes from a storied family of British patriots who have in various guises fought for the values of this country. He's a man of principle.

I discussed licensing the manufacture out to companies to ensure his creation penetrated the UK and European markets as quickly as possible. Non-committal, but a smile.

When pressed on the interest he'd received, whether the obvious AC or heat pump companies had conducted any approaches. Ehjaz remained tight-lipped.

So in the absence of any credible evidence of his projected route to market. I'd make this prediction on three possible outcomes.

1. Climabox will be acquired by a single heat pump manufacturer who will flood the heating and cooling market in the UK, then Europe with this and the coming variants.
2. Climabox attracts the interest of institutional investors or backers, like Unity Bank or such like. And bootstraps it.
3. The company works with a UK based manufacturer who is heat pump adjacent, brand agnostic, and delivers the units, and engineering support UK and Europe wide.

When I offered these outcomes to Ehjaz, I got a wall of silence. And that's ok.

Having spent over three hours witnessing, feeling and experiencing the speed and effectiveness of his device. Watching and filming the gentle hum of the system as the turned the large office complex we were in, frigid.

I'd also been listening to the way he spoke about his role as a father, a carer, and a member of a wider family.

I think I know which direction this unique unit will go.

Which route it takes doesn't matter so much. The potential of this unit to accelerate the transition towards more resilient, healthier communities is what matters. The idea is uniquely British. Inspiring. And elegantly simple.

It's just a matter of time. I'll leave the last word to Joe from Two Rivers Housing;

"As the sector prepares for tighter standards and greater public scrutiny, Climabox offers a clear opportunity to demonstrate how innovation can support better outcomes for residents and the environment. As a forward-looking organisation, we are pleased to support local innovation by piloting this product.”