Cheddar News anchor Shannon LaNier visited Westchester County, New York for a closer look at how some families are saving on energy by installing heat pumps.
Many experts consider electrically-powered heat pumps a green alternative to gas heat. They have both air conditioning and heating functionality and work by pulling air from the outside. They also happen to be relatively quiet.
"How much could someone save on their energy source here? I mean, it's gonna be different for every house, but ultimately, if you have the system sized appropriately and use the correct eligible technology, you can see some good savings based on the efficiency," said Watson Milliston, energy efficiency specialist at Con Edison.
Just don't forget to insulate your homes, he added, otherwise those efficiency gains go to waste.
"You want to weatherize your house and just trap all that heat that you're paying good money to keep," he said.
The planet's temperature spiked on Tuesday to its hottest day in at least 44 years and likely much longer, and Wednesday could become the third straight day Earth unofficially marks a record-breaking high, the latest in a series of climate-change extremes that alarm but don't surprise scientists.
Complete sexual assault case folios containing intimate details were among more than 300,000 files dumped online in March after the 36,000-student Minneapolis Public Schools refused to pay a $1 million ransom. Other exposed data included medical records and discrimination complaints.
A 40-year-old accused of killing a man in a house and then gunning down four others in Philadelphia before surrendering to police officers was arraigned on murder and other charges on Wednesday.
The television actor Allison Mack, who pleaded guilty for her role in a sex-trafficking case tied to the cult-like group NXIVM, has been released from a California prison, according to a government website.
