Many parts of Canada will regularly see colder than -40F, so I can sympathize easily with a view that solely relying on them might not be safe in that environment.
Comment on Oxford study proves heat pumps triumph over fossil fuels in the cold
SoggyBread@lemmy.world 9 months agoTheres different technology but there are some that can function to -32° F and they often have a feature that allows them to detect when theyre frozen up and defrost and then automatically switch back to heating
Windex007@lemmy.world 9 months ago
ShakeThatYam@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Tbf, most Canadians don’t live in those areas. Places like Toronto/Montreal/Vancouver rarely get that cold.
Windex007@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Edmonton Saskatoon Regina Winnipeg
ShakeThatYam@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Which would account for 5-10% of the Canadian population. Just the three metros I mentioned would account for 35% of Canadians. The record low for the coldest of those cities (Montreal) is -36F, but the average low in January is 7F.
Rocketpoweredgorilla@lemmy.ca 9 months ago
It’s fine. We use geothermal heat pumps with the lines buried below the frost line. (6-8 feet below the surface.) I know quite a few houses and even a few factories (30,000 square feet+) that use them in temps that drop well below -30c to -40c without any issues.
The initial setup cost is a fair bit more because of having to bury the lines, but after that they’re fine.
DarthBueller@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Mine has a defrost cycle but it doesn’t work very well. But then again, it’s use case is primarily AC - it only gets frigid temps in my area every couple years.
KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 months ago
Honestly it sounds like your unit may need to be serviced.
Windex007@lemmy.world 9 months ago
This comment section is a trip. Any time anyone is like “I have reservations about my own heat pump” and people are just responding with downvotes and “no”
KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 months ago
I mean, it’s fine to have issues with your own unit. The only issue I personally take is when people (not this individual to be clear) use those issues as a counter argument. It’s like saying “my air conditioner has a freon leak and freezes up every year, so air conditioners are terrible in general.”