“Unfortunately, when the temperature drops below about 30F, the heat pumps don’t work very well.”
Here in Alabama, all the heat pumps come with heat strips that run on electricity for when the temp drops too low.
True that. I, a fellow Alabamian, have a variable speed heat pump and variable speed air handler, with heat strips to help when it gets really cold (like Christmas Eve at 11°F). The problem is that the heat strips consume a lot of energy -- more so than a natural gas furnace. That's no problem for us in Alabama since we don't get that cold often.
But Germany's latitude at it's southernmost compares to New England, and it's northern most is more like Canada. That's too cold to efficiently heat with electricity. Plus it's too far up north to get good power from solar (as the article points to Germany's failing energy strategy). And I'm an advocate for home solar and energy independence to those who are in a good position for it --- like us in Alabama but not in Germany.
Yeah, and cost a fortune to use when it gets really clod.
You should have seen my Alabama Power bill for January. Beat my mortgage payment!