this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2023
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The first 4 HVAC companies I called told me the same thing. They said I had to have a back up natural gas or resistance based electric heater. They don't know what they are talking about. My current heat pump can operate down to -30 C. The coldest it ever gets here is -16 C and that's only for a few hours per year.
I think "they don't know what they are talking about" is a bit much; it's possible they're required by code. They're usually labeled "emergency heat" on the thermostat because that's their intended use.
I've been watching the Texans comprehensively fail to deal with weather that's slightly different than what they're used to, and just shaking my head the whole time, thinking to myself "you guys don't have backup heaters? No space heaters? None of you own generators? Not a single one of you has a hearth and fireplace? I guess you can't shoot "it's unusually chilly" so you're out of ideas, huh?"
I've got five different ways to heat my home from four energy sources, because sometimes things aren't perfectly ordinary. I'm from the Sandhills of North Carolina, it rarely dips below freezing here, I've NEVER seen it below 20F, we usually get 2 or 3 inches of snow a year in 3 or 4 flurries. When I was in 7th grade, we got three feet of snow. Between a kerosene heater to get us through the ensuing power failure and then heat strips to defrost the outside unit once power came back on, we were safe and comfortable.
Backups aren't for "most of the time."