A home battery sold as 13.5 kWh does not put 13.5 kWh into your house. With the federal 30% residential credit gone for batteries installed after December 31, 2025, and EIA projecting an average residential price of 18.2 cents per kWh for 2026, the gap between the brochure number and the energy you can actually use matters more. This piece separates rated, usable and deliverable energy, explains reserve settings, round-trip efficiency, kW limits, heat and cold, and how warranties count fade, then works one illustrative battery through an outage: about 49 hours of essential loads when new, about 34 hours at 70% capacity in year 10.
With the heat pump tax credit gone, real winter efficiency matters more than the COP on the label. This winter is the first since the federal 25C heat pump tax credit ended for equipment placed in service after December 31, 2025, and DOE's May 2026 change means federal HEEHR rebates no longer pay for swapping a gas furnace for a heat pump. Without the credit or the rebate, running cost matters more. Here is what a COP rating does and does not tell you, what DOE's 22-site cold-climate field study measured between 0°F and 5°F, how backup strips and defrost pull efficiency down, and a cost-per-million-Btu formula worked at EIA's national prices for the 2025–26 heating season, with a note on why summer gas prices give the wrong answer.
Since October 1, 2026, HUD has counted newer inspection requirements, such as GFCI outlets and guardrails, against public housing and HUD-assisted multifamily scores, and voucher agencies can keep the old standard only until February 1, 2027. For most other renters, the repair rules did not change. This explainer sorts the impact by situation, from California's stove and refrigerator rule to Washington's portable air conditioner law, New York City's 2030 cooling mandate and Texas's eviction overhaul, compares repair-and-deduct limits in four states with a worked $1,200 example, and lays out a paper trail for your request.
Census figures released on July 1, 2026 put the median new single-family home finished in 2025 at 2,142 square feet, 13% below the 2015 peak, and new apartments and condos are smaller than they were in 2007. For anyone furnishing one, that makes fit and safety the first questions: whether a sofa clears a 32-inch door with its legs off, whether a wardrobe can be stood up under a low ceiling, and whether tall pieces are anchored, a point underlined by an August 2026 recall of wall beds that fell during assembly. Makers are only partly following. IKEA and Lovesac describe pieces made for small spaces, while other big furniture companies say nothing about home size.
California's 2025 Energy Code took effect January 1, 2026, ASHRAE updated its voluntary home ventilation standard, and federal gas-stove regulators stepped back. This guide dates each change, says who it actually binds, and turns it into steps for any home: when a radon result of 4 pCi/L means fixing, how to read two short-term tests, how much range hood airflow a gas range needs, with the ventilation formulas worked through, where CO alarms go, why humidity should stay at 30 to 50 percent, and what a CO2 monitor can and cannot tell you.
Short-term rental growth has slowed and local rules are tightening; here's what neighbors can do. Maui's planning commission has just recommended keeping most condo buildings inside the county's vacation-rental phase-out, while growth in US listings has slowed to a forecast 2.7% for 2026. Here is what that shift toward local rules means if you live beside a rental, sit on a condo board, rent your home or are thinking of hosting. A table compares rules in New York City, Chicago, New Orleans, Maui, Honolulu, Dallas, Arizona and Florida, a worked example shows how much rents move as listings grow, and a short checklist covers how to document and report a problem rental.
Batteries now ship with 37% of new US home solar systems, but the math changed when the tax credit ended. Berkeley Lab's August 2026 data show the share rose from 25% in 2024, driven by California's net billing rules, where 74% of new home systems included a battery, while all other states combined reached 17%. One industry forecast expects home storage installations to dip about 4% in 2026 after the 30% homeowner credit ended. This guide sorts the impact by situation, from California net billing to leases and outage-prone areas, works through an illustrative PG&E bill example that puts battery payback near 16 years without the credit, and explains when time-of-use rates or a utility program payment change the answer.
A court blocked enforcement of California's recycling-label law, and most curbside rules have not changed. What did change is narrower and depends on your state: Oregon's statewide curbside list from July 2025, California's paper-only checkout bags (2026) and foam takeout ban (2025), and producer-funded recycling programs that are starting in Colorado and are still years away in Maine, Minnesota, Maryland and Washington. A state-by-state table gives the verified dates, a short guide shows why the arrows and numbers on packaging are not a promise your bin takes it, and a checklist covers bags, pizza boxes and lithium batteries.
Downsizing often trims less space than expected, and taxes, HOA fees and the mortgage decide whether it pays. A new Realtor.com projection says aging owners will hand over 13.9 million homes by 2036, but the share of sellers who say their home is simply too large has stayed near 1 in 10 for years. The data show what older sellers actually do: being near family is the most common reason to move, and for sellers aged 60 to 78 who bought again, the median home was only about 100 square feet smaller. This explainer covers the federal home-sale exclusion and the bills to raise it, California and Florida property tax transfers, commissions and mover estimates, and a worked example of net proceeds and monthly costs.
New York City's stricter lead-dust limits start November 5, joining other rental safety rules now in force. Most of these rules tell landlords what to install, disclose or fix once something triggers them. Few require routine testing. This guide covers smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in HUD-assisted homes, the federal lead rules for pre-1978 rentals, New York City's gas detector deadline and window guard changes, California's balcony inspections, and radon notices in Illinois, Maine and Colorado. A worked lead-dust example shows how the same lab result can count as a hazard under one standard and pass under another.
