New York: Self-installable heat pumps to reduce CO2 emissions

An exciting pilot project has been launched in New York City. Hundreds of thousands of heat pumps are to be installed independently in private households, with the aim of drastically reducing CO2 emissions.

Heat pumps for CO2 reduction

Heating and cooling systems are so outdated, especially in New York City’s dilapidated public housing, that it is estimated that more than 150,000 heat pumps would need to be installed to reduce CO2 emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

Under the so-called “Clean-Heat-For-All-Challenge, which New York State has already launched in December 2021, they held a competition to reduce CO2 emissions.

Here, the aim was to develop suitable heat pumps for the social housing units that could be easily installed by the residents themselves and reduce CO2 emissions. The winners were two start-up companies, Gradient and Midea America, and the new devices do indeed promise a strong reduction.

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Powerful heating, test planned for 2023

Up to three times as much heat compared to heating with electricity is said to be achievable. Interest from other cities in this New York pilot project is huge, as Adam Schultz, product manager at Midea America also reveals:

“Many other cities and utility partners have shown a lot of interest in this concept, we hope to attract more partners in the near future.”

Technical or construction knowledge are not needed for the installation of the new heat pumps on the windows. These could be installed quite simply even in old buildings, as also the demonstration video wants to prove.

Vince Romanin, CEO of the San Francisco-based start-up Gradient, is certain that the new system is the right step toward CO2-neutral buildings and could solve the climate problem. The heat pumps are expected to be tested in the first public housing units in New York as early as 2023, Bloomberg reports.