It is not energy free to extract, store, and transport natural gas, and often it is more wasteful than producing electricity (hydro, solar, wind, etc). Plus, presuming that electricity is coming from fossil fuels when they are only a percentage of generation, and virtually the entire world is working to reduce that use every single day as the second part of the process of switching to sustainable energy, is a limited perspective.
In terms of cost, you likely won't save money in many markets, but as long as it does not cost more you are still not behind on that front.
It is also much, much easier to produce electricity at home than extract fossil fuels, and individual energy independence has great value for many people.
> It is not energy free to extract, store, and transport natural gas, and often it is more wasteful than producing electricity (hydro, solar, wind, etc). Plus, presuming that electricity is coming from fossil fuels when they are only a percentage of generation, and virtually the entire world is working to reduce that use every single day as the second part of the process of switching to sustainable energy, is a limited perspective.
1. in some areas you can do worse than natural gas plants, eg. oil/coal power plants
2. Those are all valid points, and I even acknowledge them in my original comment (ie. "Things get more complicated when you're optimizing for carbon emissions vs energy/cost alone"). However my core objection isn't against heat pumps per se, it's that the article uses a simplistic analysis to conclude that heat pumps are better.
>In terms of cost, you likely won't save money in many markets, but as long as it does not cost more you are still not behind on that front.
Source? For last Janurary eia lists residential electricity as 16.11 cents/kwh in the US[1] and $15.28/1000 cf[2]. If you convert that to kwh[3][4], that gets you an effective price of $0.052/kwh for natural gas. Of course prices vary by region and time, but I'm too lazy to do this calculation for every state/region.
I did not want to make the same point as others, but it has already been pointed out that 3-4 COP for heat pumps is the more common range for comparison than 2 COP. I have done the math in my area, which is very expensive for electricity, and it still pencils out without factoring in my reduced costs if I get solar (which yes, does finally pay for itself).
In terms of cost, you likely won't save money in many markets, but as long as it does not cost more you are still not behind on that front.
It is also much, much easier to produce electricity at home than extract fossil fuels, and individual energy independence has great value for many people.