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☆ As Heat Pumps Go Mainstream, a Big Question: Can They Handle Real Cold?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Elena Shao | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Line chart that shows annual units of heat pumps and gas furnaces shipped, which is an approximation of sales, from 2002 through 2022. Heat pumps surpassed gas furnaces in annual sales in 2022 by a wider margin than ever before. 4 million units 3 million Gas furnaces 2 million Heat pumps 1 million 2002 2022 Heat pumps outsold gas furnaces in the U.S. last year. But even in cold weather, electric heat pumps are more energy efficient than the gas or oil furnaces that heat many homes. Even in cold weather, electric heat pumps are more energy efficient than the gas or oil furnaces that heat many homes.

☆ A subsidy arms race is kicking off between Europe and America
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

This premium is expected to shrink as clean energy technologies become more advanced and infrastructure to produce them is scaled up. Most of the money the IRA has earmarked for clean energy initiatives comes in the form of tax credits. In the meantime, government officials are lobbying the United States to rethink parts of the IRA. “Europe and other allied countries have nothing to fear from the Inflation Reduction Act and quite a bit to gain,” said Brian Deese, Biden’s top economic adviser. The fight over green subsidies also comes as geopolitical tensions are pushing countries to focus on greater localization of production — not just for green energy, but also for sensitive technologies like computer chips.

☆ That gas stove you're cooking on could be giving your kids asthma, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

About 650,000 kids in the US likely have asthma because of gas stoves, a study found. The momentum was met with an opposition campaign by the gas industry and their allies in state legislatures. The gas industry also often points out that proper ventilation significantly reduces the concentration of pollutants from gas stoves. The Consumer Product Safety Commission could also regulate pollutants from gas stoves or require warning labels, Seals said. The commission's head, Richard Trumka Jr., in December indicated the agency was headed in that direction and said an outright ban on new gas stoves was "a real possibility," The Hill reported.

☆ A Colorado man says his green home renovation paid off during a winter storm when temperatures dropped below -10 degrees
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Chaz Teplin spent $30,000 to electrify his home and tracked what happened during the winter storm. The winter storm that blanketed much of the US in late December put Chaz Teplin's green-home renovation to the test. Modern heat pumps can keep homes warm from snowy Colorado to chilly Maine and come with a fail-safe known as electric-resistance heating. Despite the name, heat pumps both warm and cool a home by circulating heat from indoors to outdoors and back again. After the winter storm, Teplin said he compared notes with a neighbor who has a gas-powered system.

☆ Heat pumps are an energy upgrade for homeowners that's becoming a climate and financial winner
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Cheryl Winokur Munk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Heat pumps are becoming more popular for residential housing with energy prices increasing and the need to reduce use of fossil fuel heating systems. Thinking about a home heat pump? The use of heat pumps will become more common as governments legislate their adoption. Here are four important things to know about upgrading your home to a heat pump system. "While there's an upfront cost, millions of homeowners would save money with a heat pump over the life of the device," he said.

☆ A Microsoft Leader’s COP27 Takeaway: It’s Time for Companies to Get Things Done
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Dieter Holger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +9 min

Microsoft Corp. President Brad Smith says there are plenty of emerging opportunities for business leaders to take climate action. The executive who has helped spearhead the tech giant’s sustainability efforts says companies need to step up and do their part. I thought some of the European companies were present but not with senior leadership, not with as many senior leaders as a year ago. But I think if you look over the next 30 years, companies are going to locate manufacturing where there is green energy. It really does serve the world well and our individual companies well if we can standardize some aspects of this.

☆ Conscious spending: Personal finance that's smart and fun
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Kristen Rogers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

You don’t have to think or feel this way, thanks to a flexible personal finance approach called conscious spending. “Conscious spending is all about spending extravagantly on the things you love, as long as you cut costs mercilessly on the things you don’t. But a conscious spending plan allows you to say, “Yes, I want to go on vacation. Rewiring your spending habitsThe term “conscious spending” implies that people experience unconscious spending, said Bradley Klontz, a financial psychologist and associate professor of practice at Creighton University’s Heider College of Business in Omaha, Nebraska. Or should I not?’”If you want to give conscious spending a shot, try it for a month.

☆ Australia promises billions for renewable projects to 'rewire' power grid
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Praveen Menon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Australia on Wednesday announced plans to build renewable energy zones, wind projects and underwater electricity interconnectors, as it looks to build its renewable power capabilities and bring more clean energy into its national grid. The announcements come ahead of the annual budget announcement next week by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's centre-left Labor government, which won power this year promising climate reforms. The state of Victoria, which will have an election next month, will get A$1.5 billion ($947.85 million) of concessional financing for Renewable Energy Zones (REZ) and offshore wind development projects, the government said in a statement. The announcements were the first in Labor's A$20 billion "rewire the nation" policy to modernise and rebuild Australia's national power grid. The government also announced a $1 billion loan for Tasmania’s Tarraleah Power Station redevelopment and Lake Cethana Pumped Hydro project.

☆ When I bought my house I was hit with over $1,500 in surprise expenses, but I had the money thanks to a simple piece of advice I followed religiously
▼ + stars: | 2021-01-13 | by ( Stephanie Hallett | Read More | Read Less | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Along the way we bumped into over $1,500 in unexpected costs, but we were prepared to cover them thanks to some money advice we'd followed religiously. Before reading that article, I didn't compartmentalize my savings; I didn't have "emergency" money separate from other savings. Once we'd filled our emergency fund with enough cash to cover three months of expenses, we moved on to building our down payment fund. Because we'd followed the advice in Tanza's article, though, we had the money to cover it in our emergency fund. Without our emergency fund to act as a cushion, these surprise expenses might have left us in debt.

I have several rental properties, and in my first year as a landlord, I learned a few lessons that could have saved me money if I'd known. Also, it's important to have good contractors lined up for when you need them, and to keep good tenants. With the purchase of your first rental property, you're not just a homeowner, you're an entrepreneur. Houses — and tenants — require tending; there's no such thing as a rental property that runs itself. Here are six things I learned when I first became a landlord.

Because of the pandemic, we chose not to fly out before moving and bought our home sight unseen. We also paid for a detailed home inspection report, and hired an electrician to do some follow-up investigation after the inspection revealed problems with our home's wiring. A realtor who had experience with out-of-town buyersIt was more difficult than I expected to find the right realtor for our cross-country move. Her brokerage firm charges a fairly typical 2.5-3% commission (paid, in our case, by the seller) plus a $495 fee paid by us. The electrician's report cost us $150, and it helped us negotiate a significant amount from the seller towards the cost of rewiring the house.

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