Everyone's Pumped About Heat Pumps

Everyone's Pumped About Heat Pumps

People everywhere are hot for heat pumps. These electric appliances—which perform the same heating and cooling tasks as traditional HVAC systems, just much more efficiently—have been outselling gas furnaces over the past couple of years. Their proliferation seems to be pointing more towards an energy-conscious electric future in people’s homes. And, four months ago, nine states in the US signed a memorandum of understanding that says that heat pumps should make up at least 65 percent of residential heating, air conditioning, and water-heating shipments by 2030.


But, what exactly is a heat pump? How does it work? How much does it cost to replace your furnace with one, and how much money does making the switch actually save you in the long run? Let’s also consider the same question we’re asking about AI: how much will this change or displace existing jobs for the people who have been trained to install and service traditional HVAC systems?


Former WIRED staff writer Matt Simon is our in-house heat pump expert. He joins us this week to tell us everything we need to know about these appliances he calls “climate superheroes.”


This episode originally aired on May 23, 2024. Read the transcript.


Show Notes:

Read all of our heat pump coverage. Don’t miss Matt’s story about the heat pump technician shortage. Matt also took a look at the in-window heat pumps now hitting the market that look and operate like in-window AC units. WIRED’s Rhett Alain digs into the physics of heat pumps.


Recommendations:

Matt recommends the book Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization by Edward Slingerland. Mike recommends the book Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk by Kathleen Hanna. Lauren recommends taking a staycation.


Matt Simon can be found on social media @mrmattsimon. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Avsnitt(431)

This Episode Is Nuts

This Episode Is Nuts

The most successful industries out there are the ones that play to consumers' insecurities. Many self-care companies prey on people’s anxieties about how they look and smell, offering products that pu...

27 Apr 202337min

I Know What You Did With That Bitcoin

I Know What You Did With That Bitcoin

If you’ve committed any internet crimes lately, you probably shouldn’t have paid for them with Bitcoin. While many crypto-evangelists have long thought of digital currency as a means of buying legal a...

20 Apr 202328min

Send in the Clones

Send in the Clones

Artificial intelligence continues to seep into every aspect of our lives: search results, chatbots, images on social media, viral videos, documentaries about dead celebrities. Of course, it’s also see...

13 Apr 202335min

Like, Follow, Subscribe to Cars

Like, Follow, Subscribe to Cars

It used to be that when you bought a car, you just picked out the model and color you wanted and selected the optional extras. When the dealer rang up the total, that’s all you had to pay. Now, it’s b...

6 Apr 202328min

Sidewalk Surfin’

Sidewalk Surfin’

Amazon has sold a lot of connected devices, and now it’s putting those devices to work. Millions of Ring cameras and Echo speakers sitting in homes across the US have the potential to share a little b...

30 Mars 202336min

The Sacred Mountain of Chip-Making

The Sacred Mountain of Chip-Making

If you're reading this, you can thank a semiconductor. Phones, tablets, computers—really any device more digital than pen and paper—all depend on the tiny chips inside them to function. The semiconduc...

23 Mars 202338min

I Love You, I Hate You, Don’t Call Me

I Love You, I Hate You, Don’t Call Me

Our smartphones rule our lives. We love them, we hate them. Somewhere deep down inside, we hope they never go away. But, if recent sales data is to be believed, we are also incredibly bored with smart...

16 Mars 202344min

ChatGPT in Schools

ChatGPT in Schools

The worst part of going to school is all the homework. Nothing strikes dread in a student’s heart quite like facing down a deadline on a seven-page essay. That’s why some of them may find it tempting ...

9 Mars 202347min

Populärt inom Teknik

uppgang-och-fall
elbilsveckan
rss-elektrikerpodden
bilar-med-sladd
skogsforum-podcast
rss-uppgang-och-fall
rss-technokratin
market-makers
natets-morka-sida
rss-veckans-ai
rss-laddstationen-med-elbilen-i-sverige
bli-saker-podden
rss-powerboat-sverige-podcast
developers-mer-an-bara-kod
rss-en-ai-till-kaffet
har-vi-akt-till-mars-an
rss-fabriken-2
rss-snacka-om-ai
hej-bruksbil
effekten-digitalisering-kunskap