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.
Michele Power, a meteorologist for News12, said that one explanation for this "parade of storms," at least in the United States, is a phenomenon called the "atmospheric river,:
The beginning of the year is critical for those in need of blood transfusions as people tend to stop donating during the holidays. The winter in general also experiences a dropoff as donors get sick more frequently.
President Joe Biden is set to tour damage and be briefed on recovery efforts after devastating storms hit California in recent weeks, killing at least 20 people and causing destruction across 41 of the state's 58 counties.
The federal government says it will begin a targeted crackdown on nursing homes’ abuse of antipsychotic drugs and misdiagnoses of schizophrenia in patients.
Pallbearers in La Verkin, Utah, carry a casket at a funeral for victims of Michael Haight, who killed his wife, their five children, and his mother-in-law before turning the gun on himself. The funeral was held on Jan. 4, 2023. (Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)