Whspr wants to bring quiet heat pumps to Dutch terraced houses
Two engineers from Delft built a hybrid heat pump that is quiet enough for packed streets, plugs into a normal socket and can be installed in a day.
In a typical Dutch street of terraced houses, there is little room outside and the neighbours are close. That is one of the main reasons many households never switched to a heat pump: most are too loud, too big or too expensive for that kind of home. Rotterdam startup Whspr is building one that is meant to fit.
What does Whspr make?
Whspr is developing a very quiet hybrid heat pump for existing Dutch terraced houses. Kiwa independently measured its sound level at 33 dB(A) at three metres. It works together with the home's existing gas boiler and, according to the company, cuts the gas used for space heating by around 80 percent, without a major renovation. It plugs into a standard 230V socket and is designed to be installed in a single day.
Who is behind it?
Whspr was founded by Hans Cool and Hugo Huis in 't Veld, two engineers from Delft who met at Eneco. Hans is a technical physicist with an MBA who earlier founded a recycling company and later became Investment Director at Eneco Ventures. Hugo is an industrial designer who spent 16 years in strategy and innovation roles at KPN, T-Mobile and Eneco.
It started with a shared frustration about heat pumps that did not suit ordinary Dutch homes. Hugo began taking one apart to see how it could be made simpler and better, and the two turned that curiosity into a company. Whspr was set up as an independent company with Eneco's support.
What is new?
In 2026 Whspr won a Red Dot Design Award for its product design and was selected for the KVK Innovatie Top 100. Last winter, twenty households tested the heat pump in a pilot with Eneco in Huis, housing association Wooncompagnie and TNO, and across its pilots the system has now run for 19,457 hours. Whspr is preparing its first commercial installations, planned from late 2026, and is building a network of installation partners across the Netherlands.
Quick facts
- Based in: Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- What: a quiet hybrid heat pump for existing terraced houses
- Founders: Hans Cool and Hugo Huis in 't Veld
- Sound level: 33 dB(A) at three metres (measured by Kiwa)
- Recognition: Red Dot Design Award and KVK Innovatie Top 100 (2026)
- Next: first commercial installations from late 2026
Op Nederlands: Whspr wil stille warmtepompen naar Nederlandse rijtjeshuizen brengen.
Sources: Whspr's answers to Meet New Brands (October 2026). The text was checked by Whspr.
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