Boston housing authorities have launched a groundbreaking initiative providing efficient window heat pumps to affordable housing residents, showing how accessible technology can deliver comfort and dramatic energy savings to communities that need it most, per Canary Media. 

Officials announced plans to equip the Hassan Apartments with plug-in heating and cooling units that can be installed in around half an hour. The 100-unit community serves older residents and adults with disabilities and previously relied on outdated electric heating systems. 

"We believe that low-income people and the families and individuals who live in our buildings deserve access to 21st-century technologies and home comforts, just like anyone else out there," said Joel Wool, the agency's deputy administrator for sustainability and capital transformation. "We're also doing our part to reduce air pollution and combat climate change."

"We do think that window heat pumps are a great technology," Wool added. ​"It's also still an early one. We want to see how it performs."

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The authority invested over $5,000 per unit for window heat pump installations — just one-eighth of what conventional heat pump retrofits usually cost around $40,000 per residence. Utility provider Eversource funded the entire project, which should generate $60,000 in annual energy savings once completed. 

Chelsea and Lynn housing authorities in Massachusetts have joined similar pilots, testing 400 and 200 units, respectively. Results from a previous New York installation reduced heating energy consumption by 85-88% after replacing their gas steam systems with window heat pumps. 

"This [reduction] sounds unrealistically large," said Vince Romanin, Gradient's founder and chief technology officer, "[but we] roughly know the reasons." 

Traditional boiler systems waste energy through incomplete fuel conversion, steam leaks, and residents opening windows to control excessive heat — problems that window heat pumps eliminate entirely.

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Window heat pumps demonstrate how accessible technology can transform energy efficiency for an entire community — and you can achieve similar savings by exploring modern HVAC solutions designed for your specific needs. 

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