most of the population does not live in areas that regularly have below zero Fahrenheit temperatures, still a massive market despite not working in minnesota
And still a speedbump to universal use because they only work situationally and can't just be used by default. Traditional heating technologies can. They just work everywhere.
Heat pumps have to be opted into by choice on a regional basis as an alternative to the default heating options.
"They just work everywhere" isn't true. Not everywhere has natural gas access, not everywhere has oil/propane delivery, not everywhere has access to wood fuel.
So now we're back to making situational decisions about heating technology anyway.
One fuel source that's more universally available than any of the above is electricity.
Electric heat pumps can work in more places than any single traditional fuel source. It's only when you combine all of those fuel sources you can make the "less universal" argument.
Add electric baseboards as a backup for sub -5F temps and you can cover 100% of the country with electricity.
I could almost believe you were making your argument in good faith until,
>Add electric baseboards as a backup for sub -5F temps and you can cover 100% of the country with electricity.
Now that is nonsense. They don't work in Minneapolis. Which brings us back full circle to the topic at hand: this "ex-googler" heat pump does nothing to improve on the operations or universality of heat pumps. It just makes them look aesthetically pleasing and that's worthless.
I'm not anti-heat-pump. I just wish they'd be developed into a truly universal solution.
