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Totex is on a mission to prevent 2 trillion tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. How do they plan to achieve that feat? With their revolutionary ‘all-in-one’ heating, cooling, and hot water system (with built-in thermal energy storage larger than two Tesla batteries) that cuts energy use, saves money, and fast-tracks the global shift to renewable electricity grids.

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The breakthrough technology was developed by the company's founders Berlin Raj, Bosco Raj, and Mailys Baerg. 

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Brothers Berlin and Bosco grew up in India, while Mailys grew up in Chad and Botswana. It was in the early years of their childhood that they endured the sweltering summers without any access to air conditioning - a story that is still entirely common in those countries. 

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“Many people have subsidised electricity,” said Berlin, “but if you go over your allocated quota, you don’t just pay extra for what you use, you get hit with the full cost of everything. So air conditioning is out of the question.” 

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Their sweaty childhoods and their empathy for collective hardship ignited a passion that would drive their careers and ultimately lead to the development of their game-changing climate control innovation. 

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Stages of development  

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Berlin was a born problem solver. When he was just 13 years old he invented an automatic fire extinguisher, rewired his grandparents’ radio so that it ran off electricity - rather than costly batteries - and created an electric fire detection system using the circuits from a remote control car. He used to pretend to be sick so that he could stay at home and pull apart his household appliances, only to put them back together again. 

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The passion for fixing and problem solving extended into all the founder’s adult life, where Berlin, Mailys and Bosco started a business and took on engineering and infrastructure projects across India, Nepal, Myanmar, and Nigeria. 

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“We worked on so many projects,” said Berlin. “There was an orphanage where the power would go out every time the air conditioning went on. There were other buildings where the wiring was so bad there was a constant risk of electrocution. We also installed a complete oxygen pipeline system for a hospital on the foothills of the Himalayas just before COVID - which saved  hundreds of lives.” 

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The combination of their volunteering efforts and their engineering business saw the brothers and Mailys working across 16 Indian states, including dangerous areas like Naxalite Conflict Zones where building projects faced the constant threat of being blown up by insurgents. 

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"It was so bad that in some towns if anyone went out after 9 p.m, a spotlight would follow them everywhere,” said Bosco. 

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“Everyone thought we were crazy for working there!” Berlin added. 

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Even though the co-founder trio might not have hesitated to risk their lives to bring power to those who needed it most, they always knew they wanted to create something with the potential for global impact. 

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A loopy idea

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Sparked by their engineering experience and their childhood memories of sweltering summers, Berlin and Bosco created Totex, a game-changing solution that utilises a simple - yet novel - approach. 

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"When traditional air conditioners cool an indoor space, they create excess heat that is sent outside and is wasted, then additional energy is used when they burn gas or electricity to heat their water," Berlin explained. 

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"When we cool a space with Totex, we store the excess heat outside in our thermal energy storage. We then use that stored heat to provide hot water without needing any additional electricity or gas. We also use the energy generated from heating water to help cool indoor areas freely." 

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With energy prices skyrocketing and burning a hole in many household budgets, the new system can make a huge difference. 

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“In many parts of the world people have to work for two whole days out of every month just to pay for their energy needs,” said Berlin. “In Australia, 60% of households pay over $4,000 per year, and up to 70% of that is just for heating, cooling and hot water.” 

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The current Totex system is designed for new homes with three to four bedrooms and can support up to ten indoor heating or cooling units. 

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“In those situations can save households over $2,600 per year,” said Bosco. 

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When it comes to off-grid living, the savings are even more dramatic. 

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“To be comfortable off-grid in Australia usually costs $60,000 - $110,000 for batteries and inverters,” said Berlin. “With our technology, we can cut those upfront costs by more than half.” 

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A unique proposition

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Berlin knows a thing or two about unique propositions. He proposed to his wife, Mailys, on a volunteering project in Nigeria after knowing her for only 10 days.  

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For Totex, it’s the relationship between energy demand and energy supply that takes their innovative tech to the next level. 

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“Today’s heating and cooling systems don’t know whether the rooftop solar is producing energy or not or how much their renewables are powering the grid,” said Berlin, “It’s like a crying baby, we just have to feed it.”

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“We’ve created the first heating and cooling system that fully integrates with rooftop solar, inverters, batteries, and the dynamic energy grid.

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“With solar, for example, people are getting 3 to 6 cents per kilowatt-hour to export to the grid and then at night they buy it back at up to 40 cents. We help avoid that by storing excess solar as thermal energy and using it later for heating, cooling, and hot water without the need for expensive batteries.

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“And whether or not the household has solar it is still more sustainable and economical because we store cheaper off-peak power and use it for heating, cooling and hot water during peak times. 

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“Our thermal energy storage units also have an exponentially longer product life than batteries and are easier to repurpose at end of life," added Berlin. “If you think about it at scale, that's a huge amount of resources saved and environmental damage prevented.”

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2 trillion and change

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With the planet heating up and the demand for green-tech solutions surging, Berlin sees a big future in store for Totex. 

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“The global heating and cooling market is already over 1 trillion dollars and it’s expected to quadruple by 2050,” said Berlin. 

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With a technology that can meet the moment, Totex has been accepted into the Federal Government's Industry Growth Program, which potentially offers matched funding of up to 5 million dollars. The brothers are currently raising funds to launch into the Australian market before expanding internationally and moving production to India, which will drastically reduce costs. 

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“We’re also developing the world’s most efficient heat pump water heater to replace gas hot water for the houses that already have reverse cycle heating and cooling, and working on a model of our system aimed at smaller houses,” added Berlin. 

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Reducing unit costs isn’t the only reason the brothers want to expand production to India. There is another loop they want to close.

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“Eventually we want to grow to the point where we can dedicate up to half of our profits to development and social impact projects,” said Berlin. 

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“We want to make air conditioning sustainable and accessible for everyone.

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“Our ultimate goal is to prevent 2 trillion tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.”