NYC Real Estate News by Fernando Branco, Real Estate Broker, GRI, ABR, CNE - Fernando Branco Realty

  Heat pumps outperform boilers and furnaces — even in the cold Some utilities and fossil-fuel interests like to say heat pumps don’t work in the cold. A new study provides yet more evidence to debunk that myth. 13 September 2023 A Bosch employee inspects a heat pump undergoing tests in the company's climate chamber. (Marijan Murat/Picture Alliance/Getty Images)   Not only do heat pumps function in freezing temperatures — they work far more efficiently than fossil-fuel heating systems in the cold. That’s according to a team of researchers in Europe affiliated with the independent nonprofit Regulatory Assistance Project . They published a  study in Joule this week that provides yet more evidence to debunk the myth that heat pumps can’t handle cold climates. Electric heat pumps both heat and cool indoor spaces by moving warmth into or out of them as needed. And while global sales grew by 11 percent in 2022 , according to the International Energy Agency,

  Your cheat sheet to the climate law’s consumer incentives The Inflation Reduction Act has a bevy of programs to help you install everything from a heat pump to better insulation. Here’s how to navigate it all. 17 August 2023 ( Raze Solar / Unsplas h) Canary Media’s Electrified Life column serves up real-world tales, tips and insights that demystify the process of shifting your home to electric power. Canary thanks Lunar Energy for its support of the column. When President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law one year ago, he did more than supercharge U.S. manufacturing and the deployment of renewable energy — he also gave households a big pot of money to electrify their own lives. The climate law delivers a game-changing bonanza of clean energy incentives to consumers. With a historic $ 8 . 8 billion in funding for rebates, plus an array of generous tax credits that have no federal spending cap, there’s never been a better time to star

A beginner’s guide to the different types of heat pumps Air-source, ducted, mini-split — what does it all mean? Canary Media explains some of the most common heat-pump concepts.  19 September 2023  Canary Media’s Electrified Life column shares real-world tales, tips and insights to demystify what individuals can do to shift their homes and lives to clean electric power. Canary thanks Lunar Energy for its support of the column. Heat pumps have been around since the 1850 s , but it’s only recently that they’ve started attracting so much buzz . Instead of combusting fossil fuels or using resistance to make heat, electric heat pumps move heat from one place to another. That enables them not only to eliminate fossil fuels from home heating, but also to outperform conventional options such as gas boilers or oil furnaces. “ That’s why everything is all about heat pumps,” said Amruta Khanolkar , incoming associate director for market transformation at consultancy TRC Companies.

  To combat illegal short-term rentals, NYC requires hosts to register their listings. Here's how it works Depending on the host's settings, Airbnb listings without registration numbers will switch to 30-days or be deactivated Short-term rental sites like Airbnb, VRBO, and Booking.com can't process transactions without verifying registration status By Jennifer White Karp   | September 5, 2023 - 10:30AM      Not long ago, two New York City renters checked out two different apartments at a rental building managed by DSA Property Group.  Their applications were “rock solid,” says Arik Lifshitz, CEO of DSA Property Group. Both had good credit and money in the bank. They signed leases, but instead of moving in, the renters quickly listed the apartments on Airbnb, something the building does not permit. The new renters clearly “never intended to live here,” Lifshitz says, even though “the lease and a separate rider makes it clear as day that short-term rentals are

  Chart: Renewables are on track to keep getting cheaper and cheaper A new report says that ongoing improvements in solar and wind tech will keep driving steep cost declines that make them even more competitive against fossil fuels. 1 September 2023     Alison F. Takemura Canary Media’s chart of the week translates crucial data about the clean energy transition into a visual format. Renewable energy already beats fossil fuels on cost globally — and according to analysts, the gap is only going to grow. By 2030 , technology improvements could slash today’s prices by a quarter for wind and by half for solar, according to the authors of a  recent report from clean energy think tank RMI . (Canary Media is an independent affiliate of  RMI .) These remarkable and ongoing cost declines have made clean energy so attractive that it now outcompetes fossil fuels for new investment: 62 percent of global energy investment is expected to flow to cle