<
https://www.fastcompany.com/90944101/how-maine-got-more-than-100000-residents-to-install-heat-pumps>
"Jacquelyn Gill spent most of her youth and early 20s in Vermont, and she
remembers just a few summer days a year where temperatures turned sweltering.
“We’d have to bring the fans out,” she says. “We’d keep the windows open at
night. But that was the extent of it.”
But New England summers are getting hotter. In Maine, where Gill currently
lives, temperatures have risen almost 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit since the
beginning of the 20th century. This July, temperatures reached into the 90s
across the state, though the humidity pushed the heat index closer to 100. The
humidity has been so bad, Gill says, she has had issues with mold in her home,
which was built in 1911. Like 30% of Maine households, she doesn’t have central
air, and window units won’t fit into the Craftsman windows.
“It’s been increasingly clear, especially over the last few years, that the
home that we live in was built for a different climate,” says Gill, who’s an
associate professor in the University of Maine’s School of Biology and Ecology
and Climate Change Institute. This year’s muggy, hot summer finally pushed Gill
to install a new home appliance: a heat pump.
Despite the name, heat pumps don’t just provide heat. They also work as air
conditioners and dehumidifiers. “It’s like getting three for one, and that was
huge for me,” says Gill. “In the end, the choice to get a heat pump was kind of
a no-brainer, especially with some of the rebates and incentives.”"
Via
The Fixer September 6, 2023
<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/small-urban-spaces-boost-biodiversity-australia/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
