
Are there reasons to be cheerful about heat pumps? That’s the story from Norway. Being apartment renters all, the staff of affordablehousingaction.org’s own cheeriness about heat pumps is entirely theoretical and will remain that way. But we had a suspicion that the following article was being a tad ultra-cheerful about them, at least as far as North American use was concerned (where they have yet to make big inroads).
Fortunately, an offspring living in British Columbia has just taken advantage of a government subsidy to buy and install one. The be-all and end all of home heating? No.
But is she cheerful? “Sitting in the house with the heat pump and feeling warm and comfortable for the first time this winter, that would be a yes.”
The caveat? They are moderately successful, with emphasis on moderate, as in moderate weather. They are brilliant at warming when it’s moderately cold and at cooling when it’s moderately warm. But they won’t helpfully melt your socks or freeze your ankles in defence against extreme temperatures. Some standby supplemental heating or cooling support may be needed.
Different in Norway? We tapped Norwegian friends, also renters, who didn’t have one themselves, but know people who do. Same caveats about extremes of hot and cold, same enthusiasm over the efficiency and energy savings after paying off a heat pump’s very moderate purchase and installation costs.
Reasons to be cheerful? Absolutely, particularly as energy costs climb into the stratosphere in some countries. Read more in Reasons To Be Cheerful: How Norway Popularized an Ultra-Sustainable Heating Method