[masraum]

Originally Posted by hcoles

This is a great thread.
If I have it correct - the AC (cooling) function of the heat pump is not necessarily more efficient than a normal AC unit. The potential "gain" is to be able to provide heating, to a point, without using NG or propane. Does it cost more in electricity to provide heating compared to using e.g. NG? Why not have an AC unit and a NG heater?

The cooling part of the heat pump is AC. The heating part is the same, but flipped around backwards. I think it's cheaper/more efficient to heat with a heat pump if the pump and your cold temps support it. On top of that, having NG/LPG, heating requires another service and more complexity and presumably, greater cost. And some environments don't have/use a lot of NG/LPG.

I think ^that's^ correct in general.