[maineldc]

My theory is that heat pumps are before or right after the "chasm" in the technology adoption cycle and that's an exciting place to be! Skeptics can make good points about how over hyped they are, how the benefits are less than people think etc. Believers can feel excited about being an early adopter. It's the perfect circumstances for the people of hacker news.

[voisin]

The other issue is that heat pumps were pretty awful in even remotely cold climates for decades, and there is some hangover due to bad experiences. But the technology has suddenly experienced a leap from being effective around -0C to -25C. It takes a while for industry to recognize that the technology has improved, and there are multiple generations that have done nothing but sling gas appliances and don’t want to upskill to know how to install heat pumps.

I have had a hell of a time trying to get a trade anywhere near my small town that will actually install one. They all just use the introductory meeting to spread FUD about heat pumps.

Same thing happened when I swapped from a gas water heater to a heat pump water heater. Lots of FUD, but I finally got the switch made and am so happy I recommend it to everyone.

I also switched from a gas stove to induction and the FUD around induction was total bullshit and I’ve never been happier with an appliance.

/endrant

[distances]

Maybe everyone should just point out that it's now the preferred heating method in all of the Nordics. If heat pumps work there reliably, it clearly is a proven technology.

As a disclaimer, if you have an air source heat pump in a very cold environment you do need a backup heating method too, like direct electric or just a fireplace.

[KMag]

My dad had a heat exchange loop buried in his back yard. I believe he had it buried below the frost line.

In any case, unless you're building on permafrost, you can bury your heat exchanger deep enough to have your heat source at least 0 C in the dead of Winter. Though, for most of the US, the time to recoup the extra cost of the heat exchange loop is pretty high/never (counting the time value of money).

[GenerWork]

What induction stove did you get? All the ones that have good reviews start around $3k which is way too high for my budget.

[foobarian]

> suddenly experienced a leap from being effective around -0C to -25C.

I was wondering what changed. Better refrigerants?

[paiute]

I’ve been on heart pumps since 2014, and a brand new one for the last year. They are awesome 75% of the year and totally worthless during the cold months. Technically they work if you don’t mind luke warm air blowing in your face all day long. I also switched to an induction stove and i hate it. The bottom of my food cooks nicely…