Page 2: Cooling and heating in the window

Contents

People who cannot afford air conditioning are sent to cooling centers in the summer, which are constantly cooled, but these cold islands are quickly overcrowded. Prisons and homeless shelters often have no cooling at all. New York City's Heat Vulnerability Index, or HVI for short, lists poorer areas in particular as being at risk, as they tend to have less greenery and therefore a higher surface temperature than wealthier areas. Minorities are particularly affected, according to the statisticians. It is of little help that the city has created adaptation programs to unseal surfaces, paint more and more flat roofs white or carry out regular temperature measurements to provide early warning.

Escaping underground doesn't help either: although the Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTA) subways are cooled, it is often unbearably hot on the platforms as the exhaust air escapes into the tunnels and heat is stored in the rock. A ride on the subway is literally a rollercoaster of temperatures and can be unpleasant or even unhealthy in summer.

U-shaped heat pump

The solution could now lie in new types of heat pumps that are adapted to the special conditions in New York. They combine the classic window sill unit with modern technology that cools in summer and heats in winter. Retrofitting is also comparatively simple, as no drilling is required.

In a competition organized by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), which is tasked with finding sustainable energy solutions for the state of New York, two different devices won: the Chinese air conditioning specialist Midea, which also operates development laboratories in Europe, and the start-up Gradient from San Francisco. Both companies rely on a similar concept: U-shaped or saddle-shaped devices that can be plugged and played into any room that needs to be cooled or heated, provided it only has one window.

The "Clean Heat for All Challenge" will initially provide 70 million US dollars to install 30,000 of the systems in state-funded social housing complexes. However, this would initially only be 10 percent of the city's 300,000 public housing units. In addition, several of the devices are needed in larger apartments.

The project initially started as a pilot – just 70 units were to be installed by the end of 2023. NYSERDA earmarked 13 million dollars for a demonstration and development phase. The New York City Housing Authority, which is responsible for social housing, is also not satisfied with the 30,000 units. They estimate that almost 160,000 units will be needed by 2030 to comply with the new, stricter climate laws in the state. The systems run at 9000 BTU each, whether in heating or cooling mode. Midea wants to run to minus 25 degrees Celsius, Gradient to minus 21.7 degrees. Cooling should be possible up to 45 degrees (Midea) or 35 degrees (Gradient). The necessary electricity comes from the (in this case 110-volt) socket, and the systems should be able to be installed by laymen in 30 minutes.

The problem with financing

Another problem is the price, which is significantly higher than that of normal window A/Cs. The Housing Authority would like to see a price of less than 3000 dollars. Midea wants to achieve this; Gradient is currently not quite 1000 dollars more expensive. Not every apartment will have room for the new appliances. Sometimes the old radiator is unfortunately placed directly under the window and in the worst case would have to be torn out. In new buildings, Central Air often makes more sense than many individual window sill heat pumps. The question of electricity costs is also interesting. Currently, New Yorkers are used to paying to run the air conditioning, but in the winter it stops working. There is hope for special tariffs. The local electricity grid operator Con Edison has so far installed five million smart meters required for this, albeit throughout the city and not necessarily for tenants with heat pumps.

The subsidies should actually be enough to supply at least poorer New Yorkers with the devices. However, there is a lack of faith: in 2020, the city had already distributed air conditioning units (without heat pumps) to those in need, which should have been free of charge.

As part of the "Get Cool NYC" program, those who received the devices were only supposed to pay 8 dollars a month – a "utility fee". This was only charged later. However, there were bureaucratic hurdles and a lack of contracts. The result: The devices – 16,000 are said to have been installed in total – were either taken away again or the tenants were even threatened with being thrown out of the apartment if they did not pay, as Politico magazine reported. At least this problem has now been resolved: the Housing Authority has agreed to cover the costs for at least another summer. It remains to be seen whether there will also be similar difficulties with the heat pumps.

(bsc)