Here is a great Technology Connections video which lays out why the sizing issue might not be as bad as you're thinking. The gist is that many people are steered away from heat pumps (or sold very expensive oversized units) by outdated industry thinking which vastly overestimates load calculations.
I won't try to make his case here, but he is pretty convincing that a reasonably sized heat pump system can be sufficient even in very cold climates (by US standards).
This is actually terrible and supports their point. Heat pumps are not sized as if they were running at a mere 100% or less, they are sized for the btus they normally produce, and aim to run close to 100% of the time, meaning they will be too small and not be able to do the job when they drop below 200-300% efficiency, unless they are grossly oversized. That leads to short cycles which makes condensation and moisture in the summer and wear and tear all year and less electrical efficiency because starting a pump and blower costs more than running it.
Current inverter types that can run slow do allow them to be oversized but it's still not great. Those are more expensive and have more failure points in electronics too.
whatevaa|11 months ago
Also either need very expensive oversizing or backup heat sources to compensate reduced heat output, even if you get occasional cold spikes.
Unfortunately nothing in life is as simple as it first seems.
jacobaul|11 months ago
I won't try to make his case here, but he is pretty convincing that a reasonably sized heat pump system can be sufficient even in very cold climates (by US standards).
https://youtu.be/DTsQjiPlksA
Loudergood|11 months ago
nightpool|11 months ago
Brian_K_White|11 months ago
This is actually terrible and supports their point. Heat pumps are not sized as if they were running at a mere 100% or less, they are sized for the btus they normally produce, and aim to run close to 100% of the time, meaning they will be too small and not be able to do the job when they drop below 200-300% efficiency, unless they are grossly oversized. That leads to short cycles which makes condensation and moisture in the summer and wear and tear all year and less electrical efficiency because starting a pump and blower costs more than running it.
Current inverter types that can run slow do allow them to be oversized but it's still not great. Those are more expensive and have more failure points in electronics too.