Myths around heat pumps are widespread.
Not because they are true but because they are deliberately spread by bad faith actors.
Thanks to the Economist for this article and for quoting my @carbonbrief.org heat pump myth buster.
www.economist.com/europe/2024/...
I had a heat pump in Maryland. When it was cold it was constantly in "emergency heat" mode. My brother had one in Delaware & they had space heaters in every room.
I have 5 cold-climate Mitsubishi mini splits in the Catskills of upstate NY, where it got down to minus 15F last winter
didn’t turn on the propane furnace once, am now paying a third of what I used to spend on propane and wood for the extra power and my house is warmer
the good tech is good
yeah I don’t think the ones you could buy as a regular consumer were anywhere near as good as a decent cold climate one from the past decade!
the tech has improved so much but a lot of HVAC pros don’t even know it
Same here in Sweden, kept house warm this winter and is keeping it cool this summer. Of course, having a house that's not built out of cardboard is important for optimal result.
Heat pumps get better than 100% coefficient of performance because they don't create heat, they move it around. It depends on your local situation whether your prices reflect reality, or whether fossil fuels continue to be subsidised and allowed to disguise their costs.
