HEATING AND COOLING

Gleaming solar panels, soaring wind turbines, sleek electric cars. These are the Avengers of the climate technoverse, the most widely recognized symbols of the fight to kick fossil fuels and halt global warming. But the…

“It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.” That’s what people say in the summer, when stepping outside feels like being enveloped in a thick, puréed soup. When sweat — the body’s natural cooling mechanism —…

Technically, Holly Hutchinson lives in Ithaca, New York, a university town in the Fingers Lakes region in the north-central part of the state. But she also lives at an important intersection between two national crises:…

The state legislature in Vermont overruled the governor’s veto to pass a law that will curb greenhouse gas emissions from heating homes and other buildings.

In this edition of Insight Weekly, we take a close look at the earnings forecasts for global utilities in the first quarter of 2023. Analysts expect few US multi-utilities to report year-over-year earnings growth as…

The newly popular technology faces an issue: No one understands its name....

In December a survey in the UK asked 2,500 homeowners whether they would consider getting a heat pump at home in the future. Only 2% said they had one, and 18% said they’d likely make…

WHEN RAINWATER FALLS, it soaks down into an aquifer, a layer of porous rock or loose materials like sand or gravel. For thousands of years, humans have been digging into these bands of liquid to…

In theory, the Inflation Reduction Act could do a lot for renters. People who rent their homes often deal with older buildings, leaky piping, and poor ventilation. The IRA’s attempt to get fossil fuels out…

Since 2020, at least 14 heat-pump coaching programs have sprung up in the state, all with the aim of making it easier to adopt the increasingly popular appliance.

There’s a lot to like about geothermal energy. It’s clean, it’s renewable and it generates electricity 24/7. It taps heat from Earth’s interior that, in theory, will last billions of years.

Bay Area regulators voted last week to phase out gas furnaces and water heaters over the coming years, despite strong concerns about adding financial burdens to residents in a region already saddled with extremely high…

The propane industry in New York — distributors of the colorless, liquefied petroleum gas used for home heating and firing up barbecue grills — is on war footing. Last year, the industry spent almost $1…

Bay Area officials voted to adopt landmark rules phasing out gas appliances. Yesterday, officials in the San Francisco Bay Area approved the nation’s first rules phasing out new natural-gas-powered water heaters and furnaces.

If you live in the Bay Area and your natural gas-powered water heater stops working after 2027, you will be required to install an electric model instead.

Last year, heat pumps flew off the shelves around the world, and their popularity is expected to continue to climb. In 2022, more Americans bought heat pumps than traditional furnaces, NBC News reported. In Poland,…

Poor air quality is a long-standing problem in Los Angeles, where the first major outbreak of smog during World War II was so intense that some residents thought the city had been attacked by chemical…

Heat pump technology has come a long way, fast. Newer pumps are even delivering warm air to homes north of the Arctic Circle. The post Do heat pumps work in cold places? Here’s what you…

Over the past decade, heat pumps have been steadily making their way into more American homes. There was a major milestone last year when they surpassed gas furnaces in annual sales by a wide margin.

It was an engineering problem that had bugged Zhibin Yu for years — but now he had the perfect chance to fix it. Stuck at home during the first UK lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic,…

This is a big deal, folks. It shows that an electrical appliance is WINNING the race against a fossil-fuel based counterpart. Every time a household chooses to electrify another aspect of their life, Saul Griffith…

The video starts with a Maine radio show host dressed in a bright red jumpsuit walking through the snow to a stranger’s door and delighting her with an offer of free heating oil. “My name’s…

This is a big deal, folks. It shows that an electrical appliance is WINNING the race against a fossil-fuel based counterpart. Every time a household chooses to electrify another aspect of their life, Saul Griffith…

In the US, about 13% of total CO2 emissions come from heating residential and commercial buildings. Because so many buildings rely on natural gas and heating oil, significant opportunity for reducing heating emissions lies with…

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will propose a new rule to limit hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, in some products including refrigeration, air conditioning, and heat pump equipment, the agency announced Friday. The proposed rule will be…

After decades of heating their homes with relatively cheap Russian natural gas, Germans are facing exorbitant prices for energy. The search is on for an alternative source of warmth that is climate-friendly and free from…

They’re the cheapest and most efficient way to handle both heating and cooling for your home, no matter where you live. They’re also better for the environment. In fact, most experts agree they’re one of…

The growing SAFE Cities movement of local governments working to stop the expansion of all types of fossil fuel infrastructure. This includes building electrification, especially in new buildings, in the US and Canada.

California is moving to become the first U.S. state to phase out gas-fueled furnaces and water heaters in homes. Los Angeles and several other California cities have passed bans on a wider range of natural…

Last month’s launch of Rheem’s ProTerra 120-volt heat pump water heater might not seem like a big step forward in the fight against climate change. In terms of home electrification accessories, it’s not as sexy…

The humble heat pump has finally found its moment in the spotlight. The appliance can potentially save you money on your energy bills, fight climate change, and reduce Europe’s dependency on Russian gas, proponents say.…

Across the United States, more than 125 cities and counties have adopted policies that require or encourage the move off fossil fuels to all-electric homes and buildings. As of March 2023, more than 36 million…

When it’s cold outside, most American homes burn gas or fuel for warmth ― a big part of why buildings are the country’s fourth-largest source of climate-changing emissions. When it’s hot, an even bigger percentage…