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wcoenen • yesterday at 7:07 AM • 3 replies • view on HN

> Heat pumps are mostly useless when it is minus -20 C.

Two-thirds of households in Norway are heated by heat-pump, so I don't think that can be true.


Replies

fpoling • yesterday at 3:42 PM

I meant in heat pumps in cars due to size constrains. For homes there are heat pumps that work even at minus -30C, but one just cannot fit that into a car.

And I really do not get why there is no even option to have a diesel heaters in cold climates. It adds like 100 kilometres per long trip for a litre of fuel when it is cold and allows to use smaller and cheaper battery in EV.

eldaisfish • yesterday at 3:11 PM

you're not making the point you think you are. The average January temperature in most of Norway is about 10 C higher than in most of Yukon and Alaska. Norway just isn't that cold.

That said, heat pumps absolutely do work in -20 C. I would know because i have two at home and one in the car. All three worked just fine at -25 C this past winter.

cucumber3732842 • yesterday at 10:09 AM

How many homes have heat pump as their sole heating?

That's a useless statistic without knowing if it's their sole heat source. Just based on costs, I'm betting there's a lot of wood stoves and pellet stoves kicking around.