Cala Systems

What used more electricity in this Massachusetts family’s home in August: their refrigerator or their water heater? 👀

The refrigerator.

Gerhard’s family of five put their Cala to work with showers, dishes, and plenty of laundry. Here’s what their SPAN smart panel measured for the month:

💧 Cala water heater: 53.6 kWh
🧊 Refrigerator: 62.3 kWh

That’s about 14% less electricity for Cala than for the refrigerator, while meeting the hot water needs of three kids and two adults.

Water heating is usually one of the biggest energy demands in a home. Gerhard’s data makes it a little easier to picture what an efficient water heater can do.

Thanks to Gerhard and his family for sharing a glimpse into their home!

🏆 Big news: Cala is a 2026 CEE Integrated Home Competition winner!

Smarter water heating starts with a simple idea: use energy more efficiently and anticipate when you’ll need hot water.

The judges recognized Cala for:

✨ A variable speed compressor and Predictive Intelligence™
⚡ Coordination with time-of-use rates to heat when energy costs are lower
🔧 Onboard diagnostics to help installers verify installation and troubleshoot
☀️ Solar integration

It all comes back to what we’re building: reliable hot water, greater efficiency, and savings you can count on.

Thank you to the Consortium for Energy Efficiency, the judges, and our incredible team and partners. Congratulations to our fellow winners! 🎉

What if your water heater didn’t just heat water—but knew 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 to heat it?

When Ricky from 𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘉𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘢 𝘝𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪 needed to replace a leaking water heater, he installed Cala to put that idea to the test.

In his latest video, Ricky explores a deceptively simple question: What actually makes a water heater smart?

He breaks down Cala’s engineering, shares his real-world installation experience, looks at the payback economics, and explains how Cala fits into his solar-powered home.

Thank you, Ricky, for putting Cala through its paces—and for asking the questions we think every “smart” water heater should be able to answer.

🎥 Watch the full video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tXuMg95lkY (link in bio as well)

The feature your kids may hate—but your energy and water bills will love. 🚿

Long Shower Alerts are now in beta!

When a shower has been running for 15 minutes, Cala sends you a notification. So when your kid insists, “I wasn’t in there that long,” you’ll have the screenshot proving that “not that long” was actually 23 minutes.

It’s not nagging. It’s data.

And if knocking isn’t enough, connect Cala to Home Assistant and a smart speaker to sound an alarm right in the bathroom.

Subtle? No.
Effective? We think so.

It’s a fun feature with a serious purpose: helping households use less hot water, save energy, and lower their bills.

Most importantly, you asked for it—a lot. So we built it.

Long Shower Alerts are now in beta testing. 🚿

P.S. Never try this with your spouse. You know better. 😊

Most people don’t think a water heater can turn heads. We asked: why not?

We’re proud to share that Cala was named a finalist for the 2026 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA)—one of the world’s most prestigious product design honors.

From early sketches and oatmeal-can miniatures (yes, really!) to the finished product, every curve and detail was shaped by feedback from homeowners, contractors, and design partners.

As one Cala owner put it: “Never thought I’d describe a water heater as sleek or stylish, but here we are.”

Unmatched hot water performance and energy efficiency will always be our mission but it doesn’t hurt to look great while doing it.

Cala has set a completely new standard for the heat pump water heater and water heaters in general.” ⚡️

We couldn’t agree more with Burnt Island Ventures’ assessment.

On the latest episode of The Fundamental Molecule, Cala VP of Hardware & Co-founder Mike Ting breaks down what it takes to build category-defining climate tech - from early prototypes to scaling production at our MA facility.

Inside the episode:

💡 What separates a good product from a great one
🧠 How we built the world’s first intelligent water heater
⚙️ The reality of scaling hardware from prototype to production
🔧 Why installers are the real key to product adoption
💻 How hardware, software, and UX come together for long-term success
Whether you’re building in hardware or curious about the future of home electrification, this is an insight-packed masterclass on modern innovation you won't want to miss.

🔗 Link in bio to listen to the full episode!

From a recent Cala customer:

“Software is installed. Networked to my home. Heating water. Very quiet. Even the plumbers are impressed.”

We love hearing this—especially when the plumbers are impressed too. 🙌

Quiet, connected, and already heating water. Welcome to Cala

One of the biggest advantages of connected home infrastructure is that it keeps improving long after installation.
Our latest Cala app update adds several new features, including one we're especially excited about: Live X-Ray Mode.
Instead of just showing whether your water heater is heating, X-Ray Mode lets you see what's happening inside your system in real time—from temperatures throughout the tank to compressor activity and other live sensor data.
We also added:
📱 Home sharing via email invitations
🏠 Support for multiple Cala units within the same home
📈 A "Back to Today" shortcut on usage charts
⚡ Easier Boost Mode by choosing a duration instead of an end time
And a number of usability improvements and bug fixes

At Cala, we don't just design our intelligent heat pump water heaters. We assemble every unit ourselves in Massachusetts.

Keeping engineering and manufacturing under one roof means we can move faster, innovate faster, and deliver a better product.

This is how we're building the future of home infrastructure.

🇺🇸 Designed. Assembled. Tested. In Massachusetts.

A heat pump water heater should heat water with… the heat pump.

Sounds obvious, but a recent field study from Larson Energy Research found that traditional heat pump water heaters get **35% of their energy from electric resistance heating**.

Why does that matter?

Electric resistance heating is far less efficient than the heat pump itself. The more it's used, the more efficiency is lost.

Cala was built differently.

Instead of reacting after hot water is used, Cala predicts demand, learns your household's habits, and maximizes heat pump operation before you need hot water.

The result:
• Traditional HPWHs: **35%** resistance heating
• Cala after Predictive Intelligence™: **7%**

More heat pump. Less resistance. Lower energy use. The hot water you expect.

That's what a heat pump water heater should do.

Read the full story at the link in our bio.