Outdoor seating areas can provide your home with an extra comfort level and ensure that you feel satisfied with your house. However, you may neglect these areas or simply feel uncertain about how to upgrade them for maximum quality. The following steps can give you the best outdoor seating area and ensure that your house is worth more on the market if you try to sell it later.

Patios add a certain touch of class and style to your house, which is probably why over 20% of new houses add a patio to their outdoor areas every year. Thankfully, you can add a patio to your outdoor area with little difficulty by working with a professional who understands these steps.

For instance, you can hire a carpenter who can install a new patio and make sure that it's properly structured and safely built. You can then work with a hardscaping professional who can make sure that the rest of your seating area matches it, such as adding new bricks or even a fireplace to this area.

Does your home have limited outdoor landscaping, and you aren't sure what to do? It is important to talk to a landscaping expert who can help expand your landscaping properly, causing no serious issues. For instance, they can put in new trees, flowers, and other items that make your landscaping appealing.

For example, you can add new hills throughout your landscape, put in new bushes, add decorative touches, and even add small and fun structures to your yard. Touching it up just a little will make your outdoor seating area a little more comfortable and relaxing to visit.

Your seating area's doors and windows not only add style to this area but can improve your house's heating and cooling efficiency. Perhaps that's why the windows and door market had a $153 billion value in 2020. Putting in new windows and doors can help you enjoy sitting outside even more.

Even though these fixes mostly affect your house, they can also improve your seating area. For instance, if you have an outdoor sunroom with doors and windows protecting you from bugs, adding new items can improve this room's comfort, style, and heating efficiency.

Did you know that mosquitoes can and will lay eggs in standing water as small as a bucket or mud puddle? There's nothing worse than letting this standing water stay, hatching thousands of mosquitoes, and dealing with them all summer. Instead, get rid of this standing water to improve your outdoor seating.

A mosquito treatment specialist can come to your yard and inspect potential egg-laying spots throughout the area. These zones may include shallow areas that collect water every year. You may even need to get upgraded yard sloping to minimize water spread throughout your grass.

Is your seating area comfortable but seems framed in an unattractive exterior look? Try to improve your house's style by adding new siding and other elements. Doing so not only improves your overall style but boosts your seating area comfort and enhances your house's value at the same time.

What material should you use? Well, the Census Bureau's Survey of Construction found the most popular options were: vinyl or stucco (26%), brick or brick veneer (21%), and fiber cement siding (20%). Pick an option that meets your house's style and your budgeting needs.

As you can see, you can add a great new outdoor seating area for your home if you have the time, patience, and budget to improve these areas. Pay attention to these steps, identify other potentially useful options to consider, and work with a house improvement specialist to get the help that you need. Doing so can improve your house's appearance and let you relax outdoors with ease.

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How to Create the Perfect Outdoor Space at Home This Summer - Shared

It's truly unbelievable.

Despite significant upgrades to solar and wind technologies, not everyone is confident that they can provide a viable solution for entire societies to pivot away from fossil fuel and coal, at scale.

And they really need to.

With rising levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, the global average temperature is warming, threatening the world with consequences far worse than even the scientific community initially predicted. In March, both of the Earth's poles experienced an unprecedented rise in temperatures, with sections of Antarctica surging to more than 70 degrees Fahrenheit higher than average, and the Arctic climbing more than 50 degrees Fahrenheit above average, according to an NPR report.

If ever we needed a key breakthrough in sustainable technologies, it's right now.

Things have gotten so dire that solar and wind power technologies will have to do more than just supply reliable electricity we also need them to provide applications for other issues that go beyond sustainable energy: slowing or addressing the onslaught of climate change on ecosystems, even on our own supply chain, including food.

In short, solar and wind power are becoming very complicated. And this is a good thing.

"In general, the pivot to solar and wind won't be a one-size-fits-all," says Mark Cann, CEO, and co-CTO of CryomatiKs Inc., who spoke with IE in an interview. "What works for San Francisco is not necessarily going to work for Singapore."

"Its going to be a combination of short-term and long-term power lithium-ionbatteries have secured the path on storing and delivering power for two to four hours," says Cann.

A 2021 study from the University of Michigan estimates that 83 percent of the U.S. population lives in cities, a tremendous rise from 64 percent in 1950. That means any sustainable energy solution isn't worth anything at least in the U.S. until it confronts the issue of powering entire cities.

And that means innovating around the conventional storage technologies seen for wind and solar. In 2021, solar and wind power generated more than 10 percent of the world's electricity, according to Global Electricity Review 2022, which was compiled by the energy think tank, Ember. That's twice the global levels of 2015, when the Paris Climate Agreement was signed.

That's significant progress, but it still leaves 24 percent percent of the world's power generation (in 2020) coming from fossil fuels, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). And the United States Energy Information Administration's (EIA's) October 2021 report said "renewables will be the primary source for new electricity generation, but natural gas, coal, and increasingly batteries will be used to help meet load and support grid reliability."

Consequently, innovation in renewable technologies and the diversification of their capabilities are absolutely necessary tasks.

"Densely populated areas require other strategies to pivot to sustainable energy," adds Cann. "Iron-air batteries are just now being commercialized, but they already have theability to offer several days of power, stored over long periods of time at a much lower price than lithium-ion batteries."

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But this doesn't mean renewable power can simply upgrade to lithium-ion batteries, and scale up to power, say, a major city.

"Some buildings are trying to integrate commercial wind power but, often, the value of a mechanical problem can be much greater than the initial cost to install that turbine," says Co-Founder and CEO of Glass Dyenamics Christopher Angelo, who is also the former CFO of Silicor Materials, in another interview with IE.

"If something goes wrong, it's really expensive to fix," explains Angelo, referring to the complications of installing cutting-edge sustainable energy on large buildings. "If you put a wind turbine on top of a building in the city, that can cause some issues as well, due to building structural and dynamic load management. There's also the chance someone builds in front of the wind pattern."

Imagine if every other building in Manhattan had a wind turbine or large solar array on top, and one or several erupted into a blazing fire from an environmental mishap.It could be like an urban fire from the 19th century totally out of control.

So a straightforward approach of simply distributing renewable power generation throughout an urban region probably isn't going to work. At least not yet. But there are other roadblocks to rolling out sustainable power ones more personal than engineering, alone.

"The key social issue with the solar market is the grid saturation point this is the experience with every major solar market scaling solar to a sufficient degree" in Germany, Japan, Italy, Spain, Ontario, and elsewhere, added Angelo. "The saturation point is where those who can't afford solar are paying uncomfortably higher utility rates due to subsidizing the homes that can or already do have solar so theres an inequity issue."

Specifically, the ones most in a position to afford the latest and greatest solar panels can rebrand themselves as a "green company." This, in turn, can give them access to lucrative subsidies "and that crowds out other firms, in addition to prospective residential buyers," explained Angelo.

Anyone can look up the top 10 solar power-using zip codes in, say, California, then note what the average income is in these regions, using IRS and census data, Angelo suggests. "I think the average income [for the densest solar neighborhoods] was two to three times the national average income."

In 2019, the national average income was$65,836, according to Policy Advisor, citing US Census data.

To Angelo, this fact alone lends "some merit to the stigma of 'solar [being] for rich people' there's a steep cost to pay for solar".

However, while it doesn't feel like it, we're still in the salad days of renewable technologies. This means most of those in a position to do something about pushing renewables forward are still relying on lackluster market strategies from the 20th century.

"Everyone is very tribal about new power technologies," hoping "to grab market share," says Cann.

"People aren't just fighting over a contract for today, they're fighting over the next 20 years of contracts," explains Cann.

It's important to think about the human element to demystify the roles of solar, wind, and other types of sustainable energy: while some private interests may not align with every proposed alternative to non-sustainable energy sources, in practice these technologies aren't actually at odds, and can "complement each other," he adds.

Hopes of advancing battery technology to shore up the intermittency issues of solar and wind which signifies wind and solar's uselessness when wind is absent and sunlight is hidden under overcast skies, respectively have promised much. But they might be overstated.

"In reality, batteries provide very little of global energy storage," says Cann. "Pumped hydro provides over 90 percent of the world's global energy storage, with thermal energy providing a small amount and batteries offering single digits."

To Cann, the conversation should move on from the discussion of batteries.

"There are multiple technologies, like green hydrogen or liquid air, that are capable of providing uninterrupted electricity to large cities," explains Cann. And we can even procure highly valuable byproducts from these battery types, like high-grade cold air for air conditioning, refrigeration, and, in some cases, even waste heat that could keep the hot water tap toasty.

But whatever we do to innovate the way we think about batteries and energy storage, we may have little time to act.

"In the next couple of years the manufacturing costs of lithium ion-based batteries, and thus energy storage itself, is going to rise tremendously," says Cann. "That's going to change a lot of projections that were made five or six years ago regarding the price" of new battery technologies.

"All the raw materials to make them have doubled in price," Cann says. And, according to him, sustainable energy technologies are due for an upgrade. "Previous sustainable technologies have already matured it's gotten to the point where people are trying to squeeze pennies or nickels out of things."

If we're going to preserve the next generation of modern power, we need to put next-gen sustainable technologies into mass production, says Cann. "For example, there is a solar photovoltaic design that uses copper instead of silver it has lower material costs than conventional PV panels, and testing yields very good early performance it should be able to match or outperform current PV panels, at a much lower cost."

Cann's company, CryomatiKs Inc., is working to commercialize a new type of floating wind platform that incorporates energy storage directly into the system. While Cann admits his partiality to wind power (it's what his company is doing, after all), he has a reason that seems to override skepticism:

"The short answer is [that] floating wind platforms can provide over 60 percent utilization factor, whereas solar is less than 25 percent, and in most locations falls to less than 20 percent."

"This means that floating wind platforms can provide clean electricity for over 14 hours a day, with solar between five to six hours. When you are producing power over 12 hours a day with floating wind, less energy storage is required, which results in lower cost," said Cann. "Floating solar arrays have the advantage of helping cool the PV panels, which increases the output of the solar array by one to two percent. When floating solar is installed on top of a water reservoir this can reduce the evaporation of the water as well."

Floating solar arrays, or floatovoltaic panels (FPV), "are a tasty treat," remarks Professor Joshua Pearceof the Innovation Ivey Business School Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering Western University, in another interview with IE. "You don't use any land, and you also get the benefit of water cooling the panels down."

In the development of new and renewable resources, real estate is expensive and in short supply a boon for FPVs. And the technology avoids another hidden pitfall of solar technology, explored by Pearce and his colleagues in the journal Energies.

"Solar cell efficiency drops with increased temperature," explains Pearce. "The water cools floatovoltaics so their operating temperature is lower, which results in more solar electricity generation."

To Pearce, FPVs will see tremendous growth in the coming years. "It turns out there are many crops across the world that increasetheir yield when you put them under transparent solar panels. If you shade your beans or peppers, you get more under the panels than you would otherwise" said Pearce.

And, notably, FPV arrays can "help conserve water by limiting evaporation," adds Pearce,who's also the John M. Thompson Chair in Information Technology and Innovation at the Thompson Centre for Engineering Leadership.Pearce and a colleague, Koami Soulemane Hayibo, explored the ramifications of disappearing natural lakes amid the changing environment, in a study published in the journalRenewable Energy.

The pair found thatFPVs could have great success "in arid or semi-arid regions, as well as helping protect against climate change," says Pearce. "They could be critical for saving terminal natural lakes." And with the supply chain shortage in full swing, Pearce and his colleagues did a study that discovered "the materialsfor FPV are less than for conventional racking," and showed that FPV systems are the greenest of all photovoltaic systems.

"Overall, even though the U.S. is behind in FPV, I think we can expect to see a lot more of it in the near future as it may even be beneficial for aquaculture to make aquavoltaics," says Pearce, to IE. But no matter how compelling, encouraging, or even mind-blowing the abundance of evolving solutions to rethinking our energy infrastructure, we should be careful not to overlook the other end of energy consumption and not become fixated on generation.

Unlike insulated walls, windows can "leak" energy via heat transfer at incredible rates (depending on the surface area). During the winter and summer months, the temperature differential between a comfortable office or home and the outdoor world is constantly being adjusted. And, whether via air conditioning or heating, that's energy wasted.

In essence, minimizing this loss comes from the same motivation behind investing in solar or wind power tech. "If you're a building owner, you don't buy solar because it's going to be a power source for you, you're buying it to be an efficient tool to lower your costs," says CEO and Co-Founder of Glass Dyenamics, Christopher Angelo.

Angelo's company produces a special kind of dynamic glass that "tintsand untints upon application of an electric charge and it takes roughly one minute to darken," he explains. But this technology allows users to save on wasted energy without losing the benefits of a sunny day by completely shutting blinds or other coverings. The dynamic glass "goes from 70 percent down to three percent of visible light transmission. So its similar to solar cells which have 20 percent efficiency of that sunlight."

Converted into energy loss (also known as the solar heating coefficient)the tinted state only transfers 20 percent of that solar heat, "and in a clear state, its 40 percent," adds Angelo. In essence, this cuts the amount of solar heat coming into a building during a sunny day. And that reduces how long the air conditioning needs to be left on to achieve a comfy temperature. This, in turn, "provides energy efficiency and energy savings, which is the same value-proposition that solar provides," he adds.

Of course, there are other options to tinted glass insulation in homes and businesses already holds a lot of the heat inside homes, serving as a thermal buffer to keep a temperature differential from equalizing between inside and outside. Fiberglass has long served as a means of doing this, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said that fiberglass production creates emissions that become "toxic air pollution, including styrene."

There are alternative materials that could be used. Scientific work with the insulating properties of sheep's wool could yield more eco-friendly materials. Cotton (yes, even your old blue jeans) can be shredded and recycled into thick batts, and fit right into walls (but you may want to have someone treat them with a borate solution, so it's less flammable). There are other solutions, like the spray, icynene, and polystyrene, but suffice to say there is a multitude of options that can be combined to make your home or office cut energy costs, without causing environmental costs.

And, while solar power is "stuck at three percent market penetration," dynamic glass could expand deep into the U.S., and worldwide until renewable energy technologies catch up, and it's even cheaper than solar: "Dynamic glass offers a 66-percent discount compared to average rooftop solar," explains Angelo. "I think this has a huge role to play in terms of future energy efficiency."

The Department of Energy has recognized the promise of this technology implementing dynamic glass to become a major part of sustainable energy in government facilities throughout the United States which means the time to buy or invest early, as the market expands, is now.

Cann's firm broke with convention on wind technology, and moved away from the traditional three-blade system, opting instead for a drag-based system. "If you've ever seen windmill-based systems like those used in the 1930s that pump water out of the ground that's called a drag-based design," explains Cann. And this design had several advantages. Low cost was primary "the cost of raw materials is incredibly low," explains Cann. But the higher utilization rates that come from floating platforms were equally important. These go to "60 or 70 percent," says Cann.

But most crucially is the way drag-based design circumvents intermittency issues: "It doesn'trely on high wind speed," says Cann. "The performance is lower relative for to three-blade systems, and but drag based wind turbines can operate from lower for windspeed."

But none of this will have a lasting effect if it can't be scaled. Luckily, it can. "The drag-based three-blade system can definitely be scaled," Cann tells me. "Right now, there isa 1-MW turbine system being built, and were using that to validate the output," he adds, referencing his firm's efforts to develop a scalable version of floating drag-based wind turbines. "Then well build a 5-MW version, which will be put on a floating platform."

"The 5-MW machine will be a default mass-producible unit that will be on afloating platform, and those floating platform machines can go up to 100 MW.Crucially, each floating platform also doubles as an energy storage system," says Cann. And this system takes wind power beyond electricity and conventional power grids tapping into the wider infrastructure where it hits us closest.

"Our approach argues that there's far more value in storing power starting with molecules than you can with electrons," explains Cann, hinting that his firm's strategy isn't limited to electrical grids. "If you can take low-cost power and convert it into liquid air or green ammonia, then that same power has more value than simply feeding electricity into the grid."

"You can go one step further, and convert the low-cost power into green ammonia," explains Cann. If you've never heard of green ammonia, and how critical it is to food production, you should. "The ammonia market consists of nearly 200 tons per year. And that requires a lot of natural gas. So, providing green ammonia as a carbon-free alternative is an appealing market."

Cann's choice of the word "appealing" is an understatement.

"Fifty percent of ammonia goes to create food," he says. "You can't grow food without ammonia. Right now, prices are skyrocketing because of Russia's push to overthrow the Ukrainian government, which drives natural gas prices up, which, in turn, drives food prices up."

Innovate for the public good - Solar and wind power are evolving faster than is generally recognized. Among other things, this means public consensus, as always, is lagging behind the combined advances of both scientific progress and commercial growth in sustainable technology. But, with the climate crisis exacerbating already intolerable and unpredictable conditions, and the threat of more warsand overstrained resources and supply chains it's time to lend more support to recent advances, from floating solar arrays to drag-based wind turbines, new intermittency solutions, smarter raw materials, dynamic, energy-saving windows and, of course, take a new look at changing the quasi-monopolistic market strategies of conventional and sustainable energy investors who do not tend to put the public good ahead of private profits.

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We need to rethink solar and wind power. Here's why - Interesting Engineering

Controlled Climates is a leading heating, cooling, & plumbing company. In a recent website post, the agency shared the core values that make them unique.

Clovis, CA January 25, 2022 In a website post, controlled Climates Heating, Cooling, & Plumbing has shared the core values that make it the bestHVAC Cloviscontractor.

One of their core values is the never-ending commitment to quality. They offer safe and superior products, advanced design, skilled installation without compromise. This is the commitment to all those who trust thisClovis HVACagency with their homes and businesses.

As team players, they have built on character and integrity to support and trust one another to make decisions for the collective good. Team development is a priority focusing on hiring the best people, growing talent, maintaining a solid work ethic, and being resourceful.

With their outstanding customer care inair conditioning service Clovis, they pride itself on treating every customer like family. They take pride in being personally dedicated to an extraordinary customer experience by claiming ownership and accountability to perform. Not only that, but they also believe strongly that good character is the embodiment of a great business and life. That is why they always do the right thing the right way at the right time.

Due to constant innovation, the agency has a personal commitment to excellence in productivity and performance through education, embracing technological advancements and creativity in problem-solving.

About Controlled Climates Heating, Cooling, & Plumbing

Controlled Climates Heating, Cooling, & Plumbing is premier heating, air conditioning, and plumbing contractor in the Fresno and Clovis, CA community. They are locally owned and operated, and the HVAC company has helped hundreds in Fresno County stay comfortable in the hot, sunny weather thats given California its fame. The HVAC technicians arrive on time and get right to work, so clients feel great all year long.

Media ContactCompany Name: Controlled Climates Heating, Cooling, & PlumbingContact Person: Katelyn MontezEmail: Send EmailPhone: (559) 400-8180Address:575 W Alluvial Ave City: ClovisState: CA 93611Country: United StatesWebsite: controlled-climates.com

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Controlled Climates Heating, Cooling, & Plumbing Shares the Core Values That Set Them Apart - Digital Journal

PORTSMOUTH A Chillicothe company held an annual holiday giveaway donation in the Pike county area looking for someone in immediate need.

At Christmas, we celebrate God giving His greatest gift of Jesus to the world, Accurate Heating & Cooling and Bryant want to share in this spirit of giving as well. We will provide and install one heating system to a local family in immediate need. Please complete the form below and include an explanation of the heating need and how the system would make a difference.

To ensure that the information about this generous opportunity was shared with as many people in need as possible, Adam Days delivered the application to the CACs Social Services staff. Karen Minney in Social Services assisted with sharing the information with the Weatherization Program, Housing Program, and others.

The application found its way to the desk of CACs Social Worker, Annya Thompson, who knew of a co-worker, Mary Hablitzel, that was in dire need of a new furnace. Marys furnace had abruptly stopped working a few months prior leaving her family to rely on space heaters and the gas cook stove to heat her house. Out of fear for the familys safety and well-being, Annya completed the application on Marys behalf in hopes of finding assistance for Mary and her family.

Days later, Mary received a call from a representative at Accurate Heating & Cooling to congratulate her on being chosen to receive a new heating system unit and to schedule a time for a technician to visit her home to inspect the current furnace and heating structure. During the inspection, the technician explained to Mary that not only was the furnace unrepairable, but also explained how fortunate she was that the furnace had an automatic shutoff valve. He further explained that the gas was entering the wrong chamber which could have easily resulted in a severely life-threatening situation (fire or carbon monoxide poisoning).

The technician left her home that day and returned two days later with the new furnace and installed it that day. The Hablitzel family is very grateful to Accurate Heating & Cooling and fellow CAC team members who were able to make this holiday season one of the warmest and kindest that the family has known proving that generosity of others is the greatest gift of all.

The CAC staff would like to thank Accurate Heating & Cooling for their generosity to the Pike County community throughout the year and appreciation for theirpartnership with making this opportunity available for those in our area that are in need.

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Chillicothe Heating and Cooling Business Gives Away Furnace to Person in Need - Scioto Post

January 23, 2022

By Lily Carey

Regulating the temperature and climate of your home is no easy task especially for a historic building like the Jacob Odell house, home of The Historical Society serving Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown.

We have lots of really delicate objects, said Sara Mascia, Executive Director of the Historical Society. A lot of these materials need really appropriate environments for them to be preserved in.

The Historical Society preserves centuries-old artifacts in the Jacob Odell house, from its first floor historical exhibits to its library full of local records and documents. All of the Societys artifacts were made, used, and even worn locally.

Yet preserving these artifacts in an ideal climate is a major concern, says Mascia. Built between 1848 and 1850, the Jacob Odell house originally used an old and inefficient boiler, and had no air conditioning. Without proper heating and cooling, the Historical Societys artifacts risked being damaged.

This all changed several years ago, when the Historical Society heard about the option of heating and cooling with clean, efficient heat pumps. As a not-for-profit organization, the Historical Society received a grant to make energy efficiency upgrades from the New York State Thruway Authority during the construction of the new Tappan Zee Bridge.

We were able to put solar panels up on our roof, and also heat pumps, said Mascia. The heat pumps provide both heat and air conditioning, which is great for an old house like this.

Doug Fox, energy advisor, in front of the outdoor unit for the heat pump at the Historical Society

During the process, the Historical Society consulted with the Tarrytown Environmental Advisory Council (TEAC), a group of volunteers that works with the town on environmental goals. The TEAC helped the Society in deciding what types of renewable energy to look at for their project, and has helped many other homeowners with related home energy efficiency projects.

Mascia emphasized that preserving the original fabric of the house was especially important for the Historical Society.

Fortunately, the contractors were able to install the Historical Societys heat pumps behind the walls of the building, regulating temperature without disturbing the houses character. The air-source heat pumps used in the Jacob Odell house are typically installed onto the side of the building, and use a compressor to heat air from the outdoors and move it indoors.

We were able to create an environment here that not only protects the historic fabric of the building, but makes us a little bit greener, said Mascia.

By combining the air-source heat pump system with the solar panels installed on the roof, the Historical Society was even able to lower their energy costs. Mascia has especially noticed how the project combined the Historical Societys goals of preservation, sustainability, and lowering energy costs.

The Jacob Odell house is just one of hundreds of buildings across Westchester to have upgraded its energy systems through state grant programs. Information and assistance for homeowners to make similar energy upgrades are available through EnergySmart Rivertowns, a partnership between Sustainable Westchester, NYSERDA, and the governments of Tarrytown, Irvington, and Sleepy Hollow.

Eligible homeowners can receive incentives, rebates and financing assistance and connect with contractors to install heat pumps, insulation, water heaters and more in their own homes through EnergySmart programs. TEAC has also partnered with EnergySmart Rivertowns to spread the word about these programs and help homeowners in the Tarrytown area complete their own projects.

Overall, these programs proved to be incredibly helpful to the Historical Society and the Jacob Odell house, said Mascia.

This whole system has helped us to preserve a lot of our artifacts and objects, she said. I cant recommend it enough.

If youre interested in making similar energy upgrades to your own home or if you want to volunteer to spread the word about these programs contact Sustainable Westchesters EnergySmart Rivertowns at EnergySmartHomes@SustainableWestchester.org or contact TEAC for more information.

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January 23, 2022

By Barrett Seaman-- The Unite Sleepy Hollow (USH) party that has dominated village politics for the past decade under seven-term...

January 23, 2022

-- By Lily Carey Regulating the temperature and climate of your home is no easy task especially for a...

January 21, 2022

Less than three weeks after learning that she was one of 300 high school students nationwide to be named in...

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By Rick Pezzullo--- A new four-story, multi-family rental development proposed at 29 South Depot Plaza in Tarrytown was recently met...

January 20, 2022

By Tom Pedulla--- Tradition matters. There is no stronger testament to that than the success Irvington is enjoying following its...

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By Rick Pezzullo--- Dobbs Ferry is one of six area school districts that have been awarded funding from the New...

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By Barrett Seaman It was painful to watch, even if one wasnt an actual victim of the Omicron surge that...

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By Rick Pezzullo--- State Senator Pete Harckham has secured $200,000 in state grant funding for the Village of Sleepy Hollow...

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By Barrett Seaman Encomiums and eulogies poured in from Westchester politicians of both parties over the weekend after word spread...

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By Barrett Seaman-- A former Hastings Democratic Party chair and county aide, Ellen Hendrickx was sworn in as a member...

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Energy Upgrades Help the Tarrytown Historical Society Preserve Its History - The Hudson Indy Westchester's Rivertowns News - - The Hudson Independent

For four days in Perth's heatwave over Christmas and New Year's, the temperature in Rosa Hicks's bedroom did not sink below 30 degrees.

Forced to isolate for a day in her smallSouth Fremantle share house, she had only a pedestal fan to use in an attempt to cool herself.

She saidher rented house had not been "liveable or healthy" this summer season.

"When I was isolating in my room for 12 hours waiting for a COVID test result, I felt even more trapped knowing I couldn't escape to the sea or even catch the breeze in my garden," she told Geoff Hutchison on ABC Perth's Drive program.

Ms Hicks has been tracking the temperature in her bedroom with a thermometer provided by tenancy advocacy group Better Renting for a project called Renter Researchers.

"I was struggling to sleep," she said.

"I don't think I realised just how hot it was getting until I had this sort of quantitative data in front of me."

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The situation will come into sharp focus for many tenants as Perthsweltersthrough anotherheatwave which could break a record for the most consecutive days over 40 degrees, prompting health warnings and record power consumption.

Better Rentingexecutive director Joel Digham said the experience of tenants like Ms Hicks had prompted a renewed push for landlords to provide minimum standards of comfortin their properties.

"Renter Researchers aims to bring out into the open what people who rent their homes are experiencing, combining data and people's stories to highlight the challenges of enduring an Australian summer in a poor-quality home," he said.

"Minimum rental standards would make it easier for people who rent to be able to afford to keep their home at a decent temperature in summer."

Real Estate Institute of WA (REIWA) president Damian Collins said landlords were not obliged to provide air conditioning for tenants.

"The more things you make mandatory, the higher the cost of rent will be," he said.

"And ultimately, tenants have to make their own choice.

"Some people feel they need it but some people and some properties, perhaps orientated correctly, can cope perfectly fine without it.

"We'd certainly be against any mandating of air conditioning."

While landlordsdo not have to provide a property with suitable heating and cooling units, if a unit is already in a property they are required to maintain it.

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Circle Green Community Legalmanaging solicitor of tenancy Alice Pennycott said minimum standards for heating and cooling rentals were part of the organisation's submission to a review of the WA Residential Tenancies Act.

But she said that even if it cooled or heated the house effectively, inefficient or expensive-to-run air conditioning could also be an issue for tenants.

"Energy efficiency is a big one," Ms Pennycott said.

"There's a significant impact on health and wellbeing if there's issues with mould and damp during the cooler months, but also in having to choose between putting aircon on and being able to afford groceries, particularly for low-income families.

"We put forward in ourquite detailedsubmissions around getting the minimum standards for energy efficiency and health.

"I'm still waiting to hear from the [state] government as to whether that's something that they are putting in.

"I would hope that it's something that they would consider."

A spokesperson from Consumer Protection said several submissions to the review of WA's residential tenancy laws raised the issue of cooling in rental properties.

"Stakeholders suggested that adequate cooling and ceiling fans should be a minimum requirement for homes in warmer parts of WA," the spokesperson said.

"Related issues around adequate home insulation, energy efficient homes and climate change were also raised during consultation."

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Should landlords be responsible for keeping tenants cool as Perth swelters through record heat? - ABC News

Renovations and improvements can drastically improve your home, but they come in many different forms. Certain home upgrades are worth the investment and others won't add value when it's time to sell.

"When renovating, always keep in mind what is going to appeal to a future buyer when the time comes to eventually sell," explains Buyer's Advocate and avid house flipper with 25 years real estate experience, Wendy Chamberlain.

Before you jump into all the things you'd like to fix or renovate in your home, you need to do your due diligence. For anyone upgrading or renovating with an eye on recouping their investment come sale time, don't overdo it.

Avoid improving your home too much? It may sound a little strange, but it could actually price your home outside of your suburb or area. It's always good to do your research before embarking on any updates.

"Firstly, research your local area and the calibre of homes. Look at comparable listings and notice the inclusions of your competition," advises Chamberlain.

"If you're renovating a property with the primary aim to sell it, consider which updates or areas will result in the best return for every dollar spent."

These are the home improvements that are a waste of money, if you're planning to list your property.

Kitchens are tricky they also make our 'home upgrades worth the money' list. Updated kitchens do bring value, but planning a full-scale renovation and 'over renovating' may be dropping cash down the drain.

Kitchens are often the most used area of a home and if a buyer needs to update parts of a kitchen, they're more likely to change the entire area to suit their personal taste and needs. Spending money on a major renovation or adding in things like top-of-the-line appliances could lose buyers who aren't aligned with your designs or simply don't care.

"Some key areas may make the home look more modern, but ultimately, buyers may not care that much. Kitchens come to mind," says Chamberlain. "If the existing kitchen, while dated, is functional, you may get away with leaving it as is and focusing your cash and efforts elsewhere."

She references a project where a client was selling a 25-year-old home that had the original mint walls and green laminate benches in the kitchen.

"The client chose to paint the internal walls a crisp white, but the kitchen was not touched. It was functional, just out of date. As it turned out, the buyer was an investor that planned to rip the kitchen out anyway."

In addition, Chamberlain explains that trying to fix up one or two items in a kitchen can actually work against you by highlighting the problem areas: "when you change one thing, the next looks dated."

Bathrooms follow the same philosophy as kitchens. An updated space adds value, but going OTT with renovating to include marble tiles and other luxury fixtures and fittings might seem like 'wow' factor to you, but often doesn't return the value you'd expect.

"Heating and cooling are areas unlikely to provide an immediate renovation return," says Chamberlain.

A simple split system air conditioning unit will appease buyers and is affordable, but installing full ducting is a waste of money (up to $20,000 depending on the size of your home).

"Ducted heating and refrigerated cooling are expensive to install. For your reno, a cheaper yet effective split system heating/cooling unit may be just as adequate for the job."

Taking away rooms is a big no, no for re-sale value and Chamberlain also warns against trying to move or remove load-bearing walls.

"You may think opening up the space or moving walls is a great idea, but touching load bearing walls and reconfiguring a floor plan can become expensive very quickly," she explains.

"Not to mention the quickly escalating costs as soon as you need to move plumbing. If you can, stick to the existing layout and renovate the rooms and floor plan you already have."

If you're planning on living in your home for years, there are updates and maintenance that need doing in order for you to live comfortably and safely within your home. However, many of these are things you don't see such as plumbing or rewiring.

"Other big ticket items, while important, are often unseen and therefore not necessarily appreciated by buyers. These include rewiring, re-plumbing, re-stumping and needing a new roof," says Chamberlain.

"Consider each area carefully before deciding to tackle it as part of your renovation, as you may not see a return on that investment."

Adding in fancy gold tapware and marble tiles to a bathroom you're updating sounds great, but if you leave that bathroom and the rest of the home has chrome fixtures and laminate flooring, for example, the design is inconsistent and won't add the value you hope.

As Chamberlain explained earlier, changing one element can highlight the spaces that aren't updated. Keep your design consistent to create cohesion throughout a space.

When you have decided on the design elements you'd like to include throughout your home in a consistent way, remember the mantra: don't overdo it.

Installing things like top-of-the-line flooring, the latest tech, important tiles from Spain, fancy light fittings might wow some buyers at first glance, but other may not notice all the details you poured your heart and wallet into. This upper level of detail and quality is often not a return on your investment.

Similarly to bright colours, bespoke or custom high-end inclusions like an infrared sauna are often seen as personal. Buyers want to envision themselves in the space as their own. Adding these in before sale won't increase the value of your property enough to justify the outlay.

An updated outdoor area is one of the seven areas worth investing your money in (when not overdone), but swimming pools are a different and case-by-case story.

Firstly, you should be located in a climate suited to having a pool and there needs to be enough space for one. If you're not ticking these two boxes, it would be a waste of money.

In some postcodes or for properties at the higher end of the market, pools may be an expected inclusion for a home in which case, adding one will support the sale of your property. Other areas might be surrounded by schools and popular with young families, where again, a pool could work in your favour.

However, for many homeowners, pools are a headache because they mean two things: running costs and constant cleaning and maintenance.

If you're in an area with older families or retirees, a pool may act as a deterrent. It's important to go back to your research and work out what's expected and desired in your area. Installing a pool is a major cost and if it can be avoided, will save you loads of cash.

READ MORE: 7 home upgrades that are worth the investment

Originally posted here:
8 home improvements that won't add value to your property - nine.com.au - Nine

Many climate experts say the long-term solution is to replace most of those fossil-fuel appliances with electric versions powered by a greener grid. But in practice, thats difficult. While cities like Berkeley have rewritten building codes to ban new buildings from using gas, more than a dozen mostly red states have passed laws explicitly forbidding cities from doing so. And that still leaves the question of what to do about millions of existing homes.

Stephen Pantano, the chief research officer at CLASP, said that encouraging people to install heat pumps when theyre going to buy central air-conditioners anyway could be a less intrusive way to start electrifying heating. We found that a relatively small investment of around $3 billion to $12 billion nationwide could have a big impact on energy use, he said of the groups new proposal. Its hard to find many ideas with that much bang for the buck.

An even more drastic strategy, he added, would be to figure out how to replace more gas furnaces with heat pumps, so that the heat pump handles virtually all the heating and cooling. But that could require larger heat pumps for many homes or additional electrical upgrades and other retrofits. His groups proposal for simply swapping out air-conditioners is a more modest first step.

Berkeley, which pioneered the idea of banning gas in new buildings, is now considering this approach. Only 10 percent of the citys homes currently have air-conditioning, but officials estimate that fraction could triple in the hotter decades ahead. Berkeley should work with A/C installers and heat pump manufacturers to ensure these homes install heat pump systems instead, officials wrote in a recent draft strategy for electrifying existing homes.

Its a great idea, said Jigar Shah, who directs the Department of Energys loan programs office. His office is exploring ways to help low-income Americans adopt technologies like heat pumps. Heat pumps arent some untested technology, he said. Were really in a place where its time to scale this up.

Others were more cautious. There are places where electrification may be beneficial, and places where it might not, and there are a lot of details that need to be worked out, said Francis Dietz, a spokesman for the Air-Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration Institute, an industry trade group. If more homes relied on heat pumps instead of gas furnaces, for instance, that could put a strain on electric grids in the winter, especially in colder parts of the country, he said.

There are other obstacles, too: Many Americans still arent familiar with heat pumps, and some have had bad experiences with older models that didnt work as well in cold weather. While heat pump technology has improved significantly in the past decade, many contractors remain wary of them. And, of course, the name heat pump doesnt sound like a device you want to install when its sweltering out.

See the original post:
Are Heat Pumps the Answer to Heat Waves? Some Cities Think So. - The New York Times

For the past few days, a heatwave has glowered over the Pacific Northwest, forcing temperatures in the region to a record-breaking 118F. Few people in the regionneither Americans nor Canadianshave air-conditioning. Stores sold out of new AC units in hours as a panicked public sought a reasonable solution to the emergency. Unfortunately, air-conditioning is part of whats causing the unusual heatwave in the first place.

We came close to destroying all life on Earth during the Cold War, with the threat of nuclear annihilation. But we may have come even closer during the cooling war, when the rising number of Americans with air conditionersand a refrigerant industry that fought regulationnearly obliterated the ozone layer. We avoided that environmental catastrophe, but the fundamental problem of air conditioning has never really been resolved.

Mechanical cooling appeared in the early 1900s not for comfort but for business. In manufacturing, the regulation of temperatureprocess coolingcontrolled the quality of commodities like cotton, tobacco, and chewing gum. In 1903, Alfred Wolff installed the first cooling system for people at the New York Stock Exchange because comfortable traders yielded considerably higher stock returns. Only in the 20s did commercial cooling appear. On Memorial Day weekend 1925, Willis Carrier debuted the first centrifugal air-conditioning system at the Rivoli Theater in Midtown Manhattan. Previously, theaters had shut down in the summer. With air-conditioning, the Rivoli became the talk of Broadway and inaugurated the summer blockbuster.

While other subway passengers perspire in the warm and humid underground station, Paul Forman appears cool and comfortable in the experimental air conditioned train, which made its first run in New York City, in July 1956. The test run included six air conditioned cars and two old cars. When the train left Grand Central Station, the temperature was 89 degrees in the old cars, while the new cars registered a temperature of 76.5 degrees.

Harry HarrisAP

Before World War II, almost no one had air-conditioning at home. Besides being financially impractical and culturally odd, it was also dangerous. Chemical refrigerants like sulfur dioxide and methyl chloride filled most fridges and coolers, and leaks could kill a child, poison a hospital floor, even blow up a basement. Everything changed with the invention of Freon in 1928. Non-toxic and non-explosive, Freon was hailed as a miracle. It made the modernist skyscraperwith its sealed windows and heat-absorbing materialspossible. It made living in the desert possible. The small, winter resort of Phoenix, Arizona, became a year-round attraction. Architecture could now ignore the local climate. Anywhere could be 65F with 55% humidity. Cheap materials made boxy, suburban tract housing affordable to most Americans, but the sealed-up, stifling design of these homes required air-conditioning to keep the heat at bay. Quickly, air-conditioning transitioned from a luxury to a necessity. By 1980, more than half of all U.S. homes were air-conditioned. And despite millions of Black Americans fleeing the violence of Jim Crow, the South saw greater in-migration than out-migration for the first timea direct result of AC. The American car was similarly transformed. In 1955, only 10 percent of American cars had air-conditioning. Thirty years later, it came standard.

The cooling boom also altered the way we work. Now, Americans could work anywhere at any hour of the day. Early ads for air-conditioning promised not health or comfort but productivity. The workday could proceed no matter the season or the climate. Even in the home, A/C brought comfort as a means to rest up before the next work day.

The use of air-conditioning was as symbolic as it was material. It conveyed class status. Who did and didnt have air-conditioning often fell starkly along the color line, too, especially in the South. It conquered the weather and, with it, the need to sweat or squirm or lie down in the summer swelter. In that sense, air-conditioning allowed Americans to transcend their physical bodies, that long-sought fantasy of the Puritan settlers: to be in the world but not of it. Miracle, indeed.

A theater's lobby advertises air conditioning to prospective movie-goers.

LMPC/Getty Images

But it came with a price. As it turned out, Freon isnt exactly non-toxic. Freon is a chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), which depletes the ozone layer and also acts as a global warming gas. By 1974, the industrialized world was churning out CFCs, chemicals that had never appeared on the planet in any significant quantities, at a rate of one million metric tons a yearthe equivalent mass of more than 500,000 cars. That was the year atmospheric chemists Sherry Rowland and Mario Molina first hypothesized that the chlorine molecules in CFCs might be destroying ozone in the stratosphere by bonding to free oxygen atoms and disrupting the atmospheres delicate chemistry. By then, CFCs were used not only as refrigerants but also as spray can propellants, manufacturing degreasers, and foam-blowing agents.

The ozone layer absorbs the worst of the suns ultraviolet radiation. Without stratospheric ozone, life as we know it is impossible. A 1 percent decline in the ozone layers thickness results in thousands of new cases of skin cancer. Greater depletion would lead to crop failures, the collapse of oceanic food systems, and, eventually, the destruction of all life on Earth.

In the 1980s, geophysicist Joseph Farman confirmed the Rowland-Molina hypothesis when he detected a near-absence of ozone over Antarcticathe Ozone Hole. A fierce battle ensued among industry, scientists, environmentalists, and politicians, but in 1987 the U.S signed the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, which ended Freon production.

The Montreal Protocol remains the worlds only successful international environmental treaty with legally binding emissions targets. Annual conferences to re-assess the goals of the treaty make it a living document, which is revised in light of up-to-date scientific data. For instance, the Montreal Protocol set out only to slow production of CFCs, but, by 1997, industrialized countries had stopped production entirely, far sooner than was thought possible. The world was saved through global cooperation.

The trouble is that the refrigerants replacing CFCs, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), turned out to be terrible for the planet, too. While they have an ozone-depleting potential of zero, they are potent greenhouse gases. They absorb infrared radiation from the sun and Earth and block heat that normally escapes into outer space. Carbon dioxide and methane do this too, but HFCs trap heat at rates thousands of times higher. Although the number of refrigerant molecules in the atmosphere is far fewer than those of other greenhouse gases, their destructive force, molecule for molecule, is far greater.

Angela Eaton grooms "Dutchess" inside "House Calls" trailer in 1982. The unit is equipped with a bath, heater, air conditioner and dryer.

Ed MakerThe Denver Post/Getty Images

In three decades, the production of HFCs grew exponentially. Today, HFCs provide the cooling power to almost any air conditioner in the home, in the office, in the supermarket, or in the car. They cool vaccines, blood for transfusions, and temperature-sensitive medications, as well as the data processors and computer servers that make up the interneteverything from the cloud to blockchains. In 2019, annual global warming emissions from HFCs were the equivalent of 175 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

In May, the EPA signaled it will begin phasing down HFCs and replacing them with more climate-friendly alternatives. Experts agree that a swift end to HFCs could prevent as much as 0.5C of warming over the next centurya third of the way to the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.

Yet regardless of the refrigerant used, cooling still requires energy. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, air-conditioning accounts for nearly a fifth of annual U.S. residential electricity use. This is more energy for cooling overall and per capita than in any other nation. Most Americans consider the cost of energy only in terms of their electricity bills. But its also costing us the planet. Joe Bidens announcement to shift toward a renewable energy infrastructure obscures the uncertainty of whether that infrastructure could meet Americans outrageously high energy demandmuch of it for cooling that doesnt save lives. Renewable energy infrastructure can take us only so far. The rest of the work is cultural. From Freon to HFCs, we keep replacing chemical refrigerants without taking a hard look at why were cooling in the first place.

Comfort cooling began not as a survival strategy but as a business venture. It still carries all those symbolic meanings, though its currency now works globally, cleaving the world into civilized cooling and barbaric heat. Despite what we assume, as a means of weathering a heat wave, individual air-conditioning is terribly ineffective. It works only for those who can afford it. But even then, their use in urban areas only makes the surrounding micro-climate hotter, sometimes by a factor of 10F, actively threatening the lives of those who dont have access to cooling. (The sociologist Eric Klinenberg has brilliantly studied how, in a 1995 Chicago heat wave, about twice as many people died than in a comparable heat wave forty years earlier due to the citys neglect of certain neighborhoods and social infrastructure.) Ironically, research suggests that exposure to constant air-conditioning can prevent our bodies from acclimatizing to hot weather, so those who subject themselves to thermal monotony are, in the end, making themselves more vulnerable to heat-related illness.

Luke Peters, left, and Elliott Thomas install a mini-split heating and air conditioning system at a home in Seattle on June 23, 2021. A heat wave soon set records across the region.

Ruth FremsonThe New York Times/Redux

And, of course, air-conditioning only works when you have the electricity to power it. During heatwaves, when air-conditioning is needed most, blackouts are frequent. On Sunday, with afternoon temperatures reaching 112F around Portland, the power grid failed for more than 6,300 residences under control by Portland General Electrics.

The troubled history of air-conditioning suggests not that we chuck it entirely but that we focus on public cooling, on public comfort, rather than individual cooling, on individual comfort. Ensuring that the most vulnerable among the planets human inhabitants can keep cool through better access to public cooling centers, shade-giving trees, safe green spaces, water infrastructure to cool, and smart design will not only enrich our cities overall, it will lower the temperature for everyone. Its far more efficient this way.

To do so, well have to re-orient ourselves to the meaning of air-conditioning. And to comfort. Privatized air-conditioning survived the ozone crisis, but its power to separateby class, by race, by nation, by abilityhas survived, too. Comfort for some comes at the expense of the life on this planet.

Its time we become more comfortable with discomfort. Our survival may depend on it.

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Excerpt from:
AC Feels Great, But It's Terrible for the Planet. Here's How to Fix That - TIME

Gif: Elena Scotti (Photos: Getty Images)

It took nearly 170 years, but geothermal heat pumps are finally ready to have a moment. The poorly named appliancetheyheat and cool buildingscould be the key to ensuring our homes are more comfortable and climate pollution-free.

The world is in a zero-sum race to electrify everything and prepare our homes, apartments, and offices for the climate crisis. Using the ground as a natural source of heating and cooling and electricity to move that warmth or chill into homes would be a huge step to do just that, allowing us to kick fossil fuels and climate-damaging chemicals. And with the federal and more state governments catching onto their benefits and offering incentives to install them, its heat pumps time to shine.

When Lord Kelvinyes, the guy for which Kelvin temperature is named afterconceived of the general idea of a heat pump in an 1852 journal article, climate change was not on his mind. In fact, his concept for the heat pump arose in part from figuring out how to use coal more efficiently to heat homes in the UK winter and cool them in the tropics. In the article, published in the London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, he called for something with the properties of a perfect thermo-dynamic engine, which makes a heat pump sound absolutely incredible.

Kelvin envisioned a steam engine or another machine that evaporated or condensed liquid to generate heat or cooling. The air would be circulated to other locations through a cylinder while another cylinder pulled air from that location. His concept was never built, but it became the foundation for what was to come in the 20th century, including heat pumps that relied not on steam engines or coal but another source of near constant temperature: the ground.

Its those geothermal heat pumps, the first of which as patented in 1912, that could now be key to ensuring no-carbon homes of the future. (Yes, there are air and even water heat pumps, but were focusing largely on geothermal here.) The upper 300 feet (91 meters) or so of the Earths crust is a fairly constant temperature in the 50s. That makes it an ideal place to pump or dump heat depending on the season. A heat pump does this by running either a loop or a long, straight run of pipe filled with anti-freeze into the ground and connecting to a building where a pump inside that blows over the coils and disperses the air. In the winter, it essentially pulls heat out of the air coming from the ground and blows it into your home. In the summer, the opposite happens. If you want to go wild, This Old House can tell you some of the specifics.

The reason why heat pumps are essential for the homes of 2030 has to do with what they dont require: fossil fuels. Theres no propane, oil, gas, or coal, all fuels used to heat buildings. They not only produce carbon dioxide but also a host of other dangerous air pollutants.

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We burn stuff in the house and blow air across it and it could possibly kill us, Joanne Huang, a special projects lead at Otherlab and co-founder and CEO of heat pump startup Sensible Storage, said, describing how furnaces work in terms that made me slightly nervous. Ultimately, our grandkids are going to be like, you did what, you piped flammable gas into your homes and blew air across the in the early 2000s? And well be like, yes, and we had carbon monoxide detectors to make sure we didnt die.

Geothermal heat pumps lowering the chance of death by explosion seems like reason enough to consider them for more widescale use (they currently only comprise about 1% of all home heating and cooling systems). But its the carbon benefits that makes them so invaluable as we consider what to do with our homes, offices, and other buildings in the face of the climate crisis. A United Nations report published late last year found that buildings account for 38% of the worlds greenhouse gas emissions, a percentage thats rising. Among the factors for the uptick is wasteful energy use tied to heating and cooling.

Heat pumps are wildly efficient compared to fossil fuel sources of heating and cooling, and they run solely on electricity. While its true that much of the grid is still powered by coal and natural gas, thus meaning your clean-in-the-home heat pump might be powered by a dirty power plant, that is changing. Its also markedly easier to regulate emissions at the 3,300 or so fossil fuel power plants in the U.S. than whats sitting in the basements of the countrys nearly 140 million homes. Heat pumps also lightly sip on electricity, making them much more efficient than fossil-fueled furnaces and air conditioners.

A growing number of companies like Huangs see a chance for heat pumps to be synched up with rooftop solar, creating an all-in-one clean energy, heating, and cooling system. (Sensibles system, as well as other heat pump setups, can also be used to provide hot water, adding even more value for owners.)

The main thing keeping heat pumps from going mainstreamaside from their horrible name that fails to properly highlight their wondersis the upfront cost. A heat pump can run anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 more than the average gas furnace. While theyre more efficient and will pay off over time, thats a huge chunk of change to pony up. Innovations like vertically integrating the installation process could help bring costs down. But relying on the free market alone isnt the answer, and governments will have a crucial role to play to speed up adoption.

Geothermal is always viewed as an expensive technology, and its been segregated or pushed over to the custom home, said Tim Wright, the vice president of sales for geothermal manufacturer Enertech. People have the idea that if Im not building a mansion or building a custom home, this really isnt for me.

This is so untrue, he added in an email. Everyone can benefit from this technology and will realize a monthly positive cash flow and have the most advanced, carbon reducing system available in the marketplace today.

Installing a geothermal heat pump also involves some serious machinery. Drilling dozens or even hundreds of feet into the Earths surface requires large drilling rigs that are fine in new developments where houses are being built, but really challenging to maneuver into existing neighborhoods. Beyond a specialized drilling rig and operator, homeowners also need to hire various contractors to do the rest of the installation. Its a hassle and a costly one at that.

Companies like Dandelion Energy, a startup that spun out of Googles X lab, are working to bring some of those costs down by being a one-stop shop. Kathy Hannun, the co-founder of Dandelion, said she and her partners spun the company out of X because it wasnt about creating a moonshot breakthrough technology but how to figure out scaling up something already in existence and desperately needed on the market.

We spend a lot of time thinking about how we make this customer experience better, she said. How do we make it simpler to install these things? How do we bring the cost down? Its more engineering and product work versus fundamental research. And it didnt require us to spend a decade doing research in order to come up with something. Its actually the type of sound problem where its much better to launch and iterate quickly and learn from customers.

The company is currently up and running in New York, a state that could use a lot of upgrades. Its the top state in the country for using home heating oil. (I grew up in Massachusetts, number three on the list and where my grandfather ran a home heating oil business, and didnt realize until well into my adult life how weird it is to use oil to heat homes.) The state also offers incentives that Hannun said have improved as Dandelion and other companies drove an uptick in heat pump installations, creating a type of virtuous cycle.

Weve just shown that people do want to get off of fossil fuels, she said. People want to move to heat pumps provided the price is acceptable, and theyre convinced it will heat and cool effectively. So, I think thats a huge step forward.

Getting costs down is of utmost importance to ensure that poorer households arent left behind. Those households already spend a disproportionate amount of their income on utilities, and if incentives arent aligned to help ensure theyre among the first adopters instead of the last, it will widen the inequality gap further. Another startup, BlocPower, is focused on doing just that by installing heat pumps and other energy-saving measures in 1,100 low-income buildings in New York City and the vicinity. But more incentives and regulations could help bring clean heating and cooling even more within reach. As clean energy group Rewiring America put it in an exhaustive 2020 report, We simply wont solve climate change if we dont figure out how to help everyone afford the future.

There are political forces to overcome for heat pumps to meet the moment and be in a growing number of homes by 2030. The U.S. lags well behind countries like Japan, Sweden, and Germany in heat pump installation, in part because those countries lack the U.S.s seemingly endless supply of natural gas. The rise of natural gas in the U.S. threatens to derail the climate, but it also has some powerful backers in the form of oil majors, Republicans, and even some Democrats like President Joe Bidens international climate advisor John Kerry. Utilities heavily invested in gas are also deadset against any regulations that would curtail its use like local gas bans or rolling back gimmes like a rule in New York that lets utilities provide a hookup for gas to any home within 100 feet (31 meters) of a gas line.

They could give that home a free geothermal system more often for less than the cost of connecting to the gas line, Hannun said. Theres a lot of built-in policy structure like that that makes it so that the playing field isnt quite even yet between an electrification technology and a fossil fuel technology. As we see more states trying to encourage electrification, I think its were getting closer.

Those types of rules have to go, though, or we risk locking in more and more homes to the heating source of the past rather than the future for years to come. Letting that happen is an impediment to the good life for millions of people.

Wright said seeking longer term incentives at the federal level for geothermal heating and cooling could also further speed up the development and market adoption. And more importantly, he noted that government and state and local utilities should ensure those incentives dont disappear to level the playing field with fossil fuel systems and giving homeowners, builders, developers, architects, engineers, everybody that long runway to plan. An analysis from Rewiring America and the Center for American Progress put out in early June shows that a program that offers low-to-moderate income households $6,500 and everyone else $5,000 in rebates on heat pumps could spur fairly rapid adoption and climate benefits. The cost would be $77.4 billion but would save 112.5 million tons of carbon pollution, or a roughly 47% dip from the start of the decade. A report by the Sierra Club published last year mirrors those findings, and shows the emissions reductions are equivalent to half the country giving up driving.

More incentives for developers could also lead to even bigger gains in district geothermal heat pump systems that heat and cool entire neighborhoods, which Wright said is already becoming the next frontier. But waiting for the frontier to come rather than running to meet it is the name of the game for heat pumps and home electrification.

The time is now. You cannot wait, Huang said. To build it smart from the beginning, to drive that low cost, and then stick it into the market in a place where its really going to make an impact sooner rather than later. We just dont have the time to wait.

Excerpt from:
Heat Pumps Are Ready to Have a Moment - Gizmodo