New York residents are some of the first to test this implementation, Euronews.green reports, as the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) wants to retrofit buildings with window heat pumps to reduce carbon emissions, as well as to cut energy costs.

Residential buildings are the first to receive the upgrade for the testing phase, but this technology could be implemented in commercial buildings, as well.

Heat pumps are devices that use a technology similar to that found within our refrigerators, meaning that it extracts heat from a source, such as air, geothermal energy or water. Using that heat, it amplifies it and sends it through pipes within a building.

"If a heat pump uses one kilowatt of electricity, then it outputs 5 kilowatt-hours of energy, so it's a really efficient way to produce heating, compared to other kinds of heating systems", we learned from Adam Jonsson, Global Product Manager Indoor Units, Water heaters & Storage tanks, NIBE Sweden.

Even IEA officials believe that focusing on heat pumps is a smart way to make sure that we hit our climate goals, without sacrificing the comfort of homeowners. On the other hand, centralized natural-gas powered boilers that usually provide heat in many buildings around the world are not very efficient and waste quite a bit of the energy, as well.

Shaan Mavani, chief asset and capital management officer at NYCHA, said that anywhere from 30 to 80% of the heat is being wasted because of defective ductwork, while more energy is being wasted when residents open the windows to cool off when the heat is running too high.

Currently-available window heat pumps, made by Gradient and Midea for now, can take a bit of space at the window, but residents using it so far say it's worth it, especially since the installation isn't very complex and doesn't require extensive ductwork or wiring.

NYCHA authorities will be monitoring the behavior of the window-mounted heat pumps that it installed so far, adding a further 4.000 units over the next two years if everything goes to plan.