True that as far as 100% reliability on heat pumps in the harsh NY cold. But I like the idea of a variable speed heat pump as part of the heating, supplemented with a natural gas furnace for when the heat pump won't cut it. I recommended that for my extended family in Canada because some of them are getting too old to go through summer without A/C. The heat pump can be used to cool the house like it's used to heat the house. And even though the heat pump isn't enough to do all the heating in the winter, it's not completely useless in the winter (having it reduces some of the load on the natural gas furnace).
I just replaced my worn out 12 year old heat pump compressor and gas furnace HVAC system. 12 years old!
A Goodman Heat pump connected to a Rheem propane furnace. Junk, junk junk. Almost from day 1 the Goodman heat pump had issues.
I replaced it with a Trane heat pump & gas furnace. I would never rely on just a heat pump, even though they are better today, they just can’t handle real cold weather. I certainly hope I get more than 12 years out of the Trane.
Exactly, I can heat with my heat pump September thru October and again April and May. Then it's useful for A/C in the Summer months. But Dec, Jan, Feb and March I need the LP gas furnace and pellet stove to stay warm. The problem with these idiots and they neve can find a balanced approach, it's radical or nothing. Like cars, hybrids would be a good next step, not eliminating the ICE in 10 years.