I distinctly felt the heat start to sear my throat.

Several countries have used subsidies to jump-start the market, including Japan, where almost 1 million heat pumps have been installed in the past two years to heat water for showers and hot tubs.

Investors largely shrugged off the deal, but as concerns over its finance unit begin to fade - and talk of a dividend increase start to heat up - ge stock lately has been on a tear.