Heat pumps twice as efficient as fossil fuel systems in cold weather, study finds
Doubts about whether heat pumps work well in subzero conditions shown to be unfounded, say researchers
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would be a neat story in 1920
It's still news today because every time heat pumps are mentioned someone will say that 'they are nice but it's too cold to use them where I live'.
That's like the stupidest take, especially for most of Germany. In the worst case you'd supplement the heat pump with electric heat so in the coldest days when it doesn't work at all (which will be a few days a year at most) you'd get to ... checks notes ... 1x efficiency, which is only as bad as having regular electric heating which many people have anyway.
In Germany this will likely still be a controversial take in 2026. Our political right managed to shift this debate into ideology territory and a good chunk of people believe heat pumps are environmentalists' fever dreams that don't really work in cold Germany.
