Do Heat Pumps Work in Cold Climates?

@MitsubishiHVAC explains that heat pumps can work in cold climates.

[scottshanks]

I live in central canada in a cold climate and winter lows can get as cold as -40 to -50 Celsius. You’re suggesting that Mitsubishi now has a unit that can handle the cold climate in Canada ? An office I worked at had a new Mitsubishi cold climate unit with advanced commissioning etc. and it would really struggle and fail at -20 Celsius

[FluxinShitUp]

Running at negative 22 and the amount of BTUs they're able to supply are two different things.

You also have to be realistic with people about putting these in older homes.

I work for an HVAC company for 24 years and we install more heat pumps than anything else, but we specifically do dual fuel setups.

Remember running at negative 22.. And producing a decent amount of BTU Heat load at -22 are two different things.

Now tell somebody to slap one of these things in a 100-year-old house And see how cozy comfy they are.

What he means by setting it up for success is you need to invest way more money in insulation than you probably do in the heat pump to even make it work correctly lol

Yes, a house built engineered for a heat pump will probably work for a heat pump (paired with a very non-efficient electric backup) . But considering most people are retrofitting these in with a bunch of false promises and rebates, it doesn't work out in New England anyways.

[Thisishard]

I live in a gated community with roughly 800 houses. Every time it gets cold people are complaining that their houses are cold if it goes down to 40° and below .If my thermostat says the house is 64 and I try to raise it 4° that heat pump will run for an hour and the house will still be 64°, on the flipside it could be 105° outside and I have no problems at all keeping my house ice cold. all the installers down here tell you the same thing. These are brand new houses. 2 x 6 construction. Thicker insulation.

[lifepathvideos]

Heat pumps will absolutely fail in harsh cold weather, they don't stand a chance unfortunately.