A homeowner received nearly unanimous advice after getting faulty guidance from their HVAC company. The Reddit community's message was loud and clear: Ditch the company that steered you away from upgrading to a heat pump with dubious justification.
The original poster shared their story with the r/heatpumps subreddit, revealing that they lived in a 2,500-square-foot, 100-year-old house in the Pacific Northwest. Their winters were "cold but not severe," and their furnace had been working just fine for 24 years, although they knew it would need to be replaced soon.
With that in mind, they'd contacted their HVAC company about a heat pump, explaining that they weren't concerned about having air conditioning. For whatever reason, the company told the OP that if they got a heat pump, they'd have to keep and update the gas furnace. The company also said that getting a heat pump wasn't worth it if the OP didn't want AC.
The OP referred to this as "conflicting information" based on their research and asked, "Do I need the backup furnace and is the heatpump overkill if not looking for AC?"
The community quickly set them straight.
A fellow homeowner in the region said they had a heat pump with no gas furnace or electrical resistance and characterized it as "fine." They noted that it's "not worth it to install a new gas furnace that you're going to use maybe ~2 weeks a year."
"They probably don't know about cold climate heat pumps," another Redditor wrote. "What's their justification for keeping the gas furnace?"
The company's motivations are unclear, but it doesn't seem to be up to speed on heat pump advancements that have made the tech perfectly serviceable in cold weather. Heat pumps have passed major tests without a hitch.
Heat pumps are remarkably efficient. They can cut heating and cooling costs almost in half, saving money and energy usage. Popular HVAC brands like Mitsubishi offer a range of heat pump models to meet the needs of various home designs, including cost-effective mini-split systems that maximize savings and comfort by allowing homeowners to target specific rooms.
|
Do you think all new homes should use heat pump technology? Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
One Redditor left the OP with a simple directive: "Say goodbye to gas and that company."
If you're interested in exploring your heat pump options, Mitsubishi's free tool makes it easy to connect with local contractors for free quotes. And if you're fully invested in maximizing your energy savings, you can consider pairing a heat pump with rooftop solar panels, which can bring your bills down close to $0.
Platforms like EnergySage make it easy to find and compare free quotes from vetted local installers, with many users saving up to $10,000 thanks to competitive marketplace bidding.
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more and waste less, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.









