Are heat pumps the answer?

Here in Southern New England, morning temps have mostly been in the 20s. We have a natural gas furnace and forced air keeping the house at 68°F.

We had a heat pump in our house when I was growing up in East Tennessee. My dad, an MIT-trained engineer, was proud of the money he was saving in the land of the TVA by using a heat pump for both AC and heating. Judging from the air emerging from the register, I suspect most of the savings came from tepid air in the winter and barely coolish air in the summer. Hell, why not just turn the damn thing off and save even more?

I understand that heat pump technology is improved since the 1960s. 

“In five short years, Massachusetts aims to have at least a half-million homes running off heat pumps, those cutting-edge devices that can wrench energy from the air and convert it to heat or cool a building.

 

“But there is a problem: Heat pumps are powered by electricity, and in Massachusetts, electric rates are among the highest in the nation.

 

“When the temperature falls well below freezing, as it has this month, some residents using heat pumps say their monthly electric bills are soaring — some as high as $700 or more — because heat pumps are less efficient at low temperatures. While many homeowners say they’re happy with their purchase and saw just slightly higher bills during cold months in recent years, many hit with big bills this winter say they’re feeling buyer’s remorse.

 

“In Canton, Richard Sagotsky said his experience has been awful — though he takes some of the blame, opting for lower-cost heat pumps that were less efficient. Still, the bills during cold months are punishing, leaving him filled with regret. “I wanted to save the planet,” he said.”

Many of us want to save the planet, but at what cost, both to our wallets and our comfort? Here's hoping the technology improves. The planet can’t afford to wait much longer.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/01/17/science/heat-pumps-electricity-rates-in-winter/