>

They do, but it’s because of techniques that most of us don’t do at home.  99% of people would not have their cooking quality impacted at all.  
I say this as someone that has a gas stove and is reluctant to switch, moreso out of habit than because of any good cause.
Nice, these just became standard building code for new construction single family homes in Washington state. >

They basically have built in AC which this state is sorely lacking. >

That's funny that you phrase that that way. I've always thought of them as A/C that can run backwards and provide heat. >

Californian. They're ACs with a heater in my mind, too. >

Eastern WA.  Same.  A/C with benefits. >

I’m in Wisconsin and my cold weather heat pump cut my winter power bill in half. The oil industry can kiss my butt on both sides. >

I'm also in Wisco. Can you give me an idea what your setup is? >

If you’re in Milwaukee area I can tell you the guy who did it for me, he was 1/3 less than the other contractors and did a freaking phenomenal job. I don’t remember the name of the company that built the pump, I was thinking hard about a Mr Cool but this one was a better fit for us.
The setup is a condenser outside that looks like an AC unit but is way, way quieter (it’s just outside a bedroom), that feeds into the internal pump that’s where the old furnace was. It does ac in the summer, heating in the winter, and we pay less for both than before we switched. Whole thing was about $12k and he did the paperwork for the rebates for us.
We were fortunate in that our old system had duct work and wiring in place that meant installing the new system had lower labor costs than usual, but the whole thing took two days and that included a bad part that he had to spend half a day picking up a replacement for in Madison. >

Wait, air source? In Wisconsin?  Do you know the make/model?  My understanding was they'd switch to electric resistance below 30F or so. >

The new models have dc powered modulated compressors that can create a greater refrigerant pressure and lower operating temps, like to -20F. They use more electricity though the colder the temp. >

archive link

“Our power grid is not equipped to handle the demand that is now being put on it,” Charles Summers said in a radio interview. Summers said he and his fellow industry group leaders in New England had sent letters to their governors “asking that states pushing so hard toward electrification, pushing complete conversion to heat pumps, just tap the brakes for a few minutes.”


Charles Summers, eco villain

"The Maine Energy Marketers Association, or MEMA for short, is a non-profit 501c(6) trade association representing more than 300 members, including 125 heating oil, propane, biofuels and motor fuels providers as well as convenience store owners."
Heat pumps are hot and cool. Sorry, Charlie, summer is coming. >

Let the market decide - not the fear based lobbying of corporate leaders. >

Energy Industry - "We need to let the free market decide things!"
Also Energy Industry - "Wait, not like that!" >

You can already feel the propaganda warming up.  Just today I had someone try to sell me that heat pumps were an "early adopter" technology where all the kinks hadn't been worked out yet, while condensing boilers were "an old and proven design."  These two things couldn't be further from the truth.
Their propaganda is really funny if you know anything about this, but to the uninformed consumer it's really hard to separate out their blatant lies. >

That's pretty funny, for sure. While I'm not in the north, this house has had a heat pump since 1995 or so. Early adopter, indeed! >

My folks had one 40 years ago. Needed the resistive heating loop a few times when it was too cold.  They are better now.
If you can afford a geothermal ground loop, you’ll be set since it is always 50 degrees 100 feet down.  50 is great for dumping heat in the summer and warmer than ambient in the winter. >

Maine gets 67% of its power from renewable sources, and there are lots of solar farms popping up everywhere, and if they keep raising electricity rates like they have recently, its going to be cheaper to have personal solar soon anyway.  The oil/gas/energy companies are doing this to themselves.  Eff em. >

Solar + heat pump is the dream. 
Corporate PR is powerful but personal costs are much, much more convincing.
They’ll pitch a fit but when people see it’s possible to permanently escape utility bills, the oil lobby stands no chance. >

Don't worry. They'll start charging connectivity fees, no matter how little you use. Closely followed by condemning homes that aren't hooked into the power grid. >

They can take my heat pumped home from my properly temperatured dead fingers! >


The website, which credits Carrione’s marketing firm, warns that most Maine homeowners can’t rely on heat pumps as a sole source of heating. It says that because heat pumps run on electricity that’s still made by burning natural gas they are “no greener than the furnace in your basement.”

Even in places where power is made by burning gas, a heat pump is greener than direct gas heating, because heat pumps are more than 100% efficient. The amount of heat that comes out is more than the electrical energy that goes in. >


heat pumps are more than 100% efficient

I'd like to see a source for this. No machine can be 100% efficient, let alone more than that.
Electrification does however benefit from economies of scale, even if the electricity is being powered by fossil fuels, and has the potential to be vastly cleaner. Also, you don't have to fuck with a pilot light or CO poisoning. >

The Technology Connections YouTube channel has some videos about this. He absolutely loves heat pumps and gets into the details of why they are more than 100% efficient. The channel is also just super interesting in general, assuming you enjoy 40 minute long videos explaining why power strips are bad, which I do for some reason. >

That guy is fricken awesome, I watched a 30m video on dishwashers, then heat pumps, then humidifiers it's a deep hole. >

Then space heaters, then air conditioners, then toasters, then impact sprinklers, then...
Yeah, can confirm he's awesome. >

We've been putting heat pumps in new homes in Northern Canadian communities and the amount of heating oil they save is a big deal for them. Ground loop heat pumps are really good even for cold climates. >

I'm more of a dual-fuel heat pump kinda guy myself, seal the deal with pre-wired gas generator access.  I'm not in Maine though. >

I absolutely adore wood fireplace, if it ever gets bone chilling cold in Seattle I would adore a small wood burning stove. The enclosed kind, not a hearth style. >

I love my heat pump and power it with rooftop solar but it’s been a bit unreliable.  Broke twice in 4 years.  The first time was pre-pandemic and it was still under warranty so we had it running again in a couple days for nothing but a phone call but this last time took 4 months to get the parts, cost $1700 and I had to burn about $1000 in oil while it was down.  
Great tech but they really need to improve reliability before people consider it for their only heat source. >

Heat pumps were invented in 1948. You just got a dud, probably due to cheap manufacturing and bad qc. The technology is solid. >

Even the new ones freeze over in colder climates. I’m in Chicago, and when we get really cold, wet, and windy the whole unit will freeze over and takes a couple hours to thaw out and run again. They’re amazing when paired with more conventional heating systems like hot water or steam. >

Are these like ectoentropic heat pumps if they are defying thermodynamics? >

you're probably just forgetting pressure >

I've lived in places with a heat pump and lived in places with a furnace. The difference in experience was similar to the difference in electric vs gas stove. >

Electric stoves heat faster than gas stoves. >

Gas Stoves are almost objectively superior to electric stoves, and as gas furnaces are almost objectively superior to heat pumps. >

Gas stoves are objectively worse. They don't heat evenly, they create massive indoor air pollution and use a resource that generally costs more than it's electric counterpart. It requires, in many cases, additional infrastructure. 
Gas stoves suck. I have a fantastic gas stove and would trade it for an electric of moderate quality. >

You're straight up lying. Basically every cooking professional will acknowledge that gas stoves are better.