Get the latest tech news

What Would Happen if Every American Got a Heat Pump


Getting these climate superheroes into more US homes would massively cut emissions, and it would be cost-effective. Here’s how the revolution would play out.

“The answer ended up being, yes, in all US states, on average heat pumps will reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” says Eric Wilson, a senior research engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the lead author of the new paper. “What are the efficiency improvements, the surprising innovations, the leaps here that one can only get when you in fact start deploying these at scale?” asks climate economist Gernot Wagner of the Columbia Business School, who wasn’t involved in the paper. Utilities are also encouraging customers to “precool” or “preheat” their homes, shifting that demand to a different time of day, especially if they’ve got good insulation and can hold onto that cooling or heating.

Get the Android app

Or read this on Wired

Read more on:

Photo of American

American

Photo of heat pump

heat pump

Related news:

News photo

Biden signs executive order to boost cybersecurity at American ports

News photo

Hadrian Automation’s CEO wants to defy history and revitalize American industry

News photo

Pursuing ‘American Dynamism,’ Andreessen Horowitz Ups Its Game in DC