Panasonic Corporation announced that its Heating & Ventilation A/C Company entered into an agreement to work with tado° GmbH, a German-based vendor-agnostic European leader in home energy management solutions, for the first time as a heating equipment manufacturer.
Through a €30 million equity investment, Panasonic will strengthen its collaboration with tado°. Panasonic will also sit on tado°’s board, deepening operational collaboration to drive greater synergies and accelerate innovation.
Air-to-water (A2W) heat pumps extract heat from the ambient air to produce hot water, which is then circulated throughout buildings for heating. Compared to fossil fuel-based heating systems, A2W significantly reduces CO2 emissions and environmental impact, attracting increasing public attention in recent years.
Panasonic leveraged its over 60 years of expertise in heat pump technology to launch its Aquarea Heat Pumps for residential use in Europe in 2008. A key strength of Panasonic’s Aquarea is its unique ability to maintain heating performance even in extremely cold climates. In May 2023, Panasonic became the first Japanese manufacturer to adopt R290, a natural refrigerant with an ultra-low global warming potential, aligning with Europe’s strong environmental focus.
In March 2024, Panasonic announced a business alliance with tado°, a leading vendor of Smart Thermostats (electronic device that remotely controls air-conditioning systems based on weather and temperature settings via an application) and a provider of dynamic tariffs in Europe. tado° is the industry’s leading start-up founded in 2011 with approximately one million household customers. It was nominated for the Tech Tour Growth 50 – List 2025 as a potential European unicorn company, demonstrating remarkable growth in recent years.
Linking Panasonic’s A2W and tado°’s Smart Thermostats and Heat Pump Optimizer will optimally control the temperature and amount of hot water generated by A2W, reducing energy consumption by up to approximately 20 per cent based on various information, including the room temperature, user’s temperature settings, weather, and electricity rate. Furthermore, through this capital and business alliance, both companies will collaborate to accelerate innovation in energy-efficient solutions. Panasonic and tado° will jointly develop advanced operation control software for Panasonic Aquarea Heat Pumps by sharing product and service specifications. This software will enhance system efficiency and optimisation using real-world user data and field test insights. Scheduled for release via a software update in September 2025, it aims to achieve up to a 30 per cent reduction in energy consumption.
A recent survey of tado° customers in August 2024 revealed that approximately 75 per cent of households still rely on gas or oil heating systems. Efforts to incorporate a Panasonic-specific design in tado°’s application are already underway, and the two companies will propose the unique combination of Panasonic’s A2W heat pump and tado° solutions by promoting joint marketing through the use of applications and direct mail and introducing Panasonic’s trusted installation partners.
Through collaboration with tado°, Panasonic will contribute to achieving both a comfortable life and a sustainable global environment.
