A rare event is occurring in the home appliance cosmos – the birth of a new star. The thing is not just an improved product that is smaller, faster, more powerful or more efficient. Nor is it just an upgraded product featuring more bells and whistles. Instead, this emergent star represents an entire new category of home appliance – the micro CHP unit. CHP stands for combined heat and power, and the term micro is used to distinguish it from larger scale commercial implementations. While individual home generators and home heating equipment have been on the market for a long time, innovative packages that produce both heat and electricity may very well become the next, must-have, great thing for the home.