Baby, It's Cold Outside?

There's a widely-held belief that heat pumps can't effectively heat a home, when outside temperatures are below freezing. More than 30% of French; German and UK folk, cling to this 'commonsense' view. Winter temperatures are much lower in Norway than in France; Germany and the UK. Two thirds of Norwegian homes have heat pumps. They have proved popular there because they are effective and cheaper to run than gas boilers (https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/may/22/do-heat-pumps-work-at-freezing-temperatures). Heat pumps effectively operate like refrigerators in reverse. Controlled studies with these devices, have shown that, even down to -20 degrees Centigrade, they can extract enough heat from the outside atmosphere, to effectively heat homes. Heat pumps have to work harder on cold days but their efficiency actually declines very little. A standard proviso, however, applies. The heat pumps must be both properly designed and installed effectively. A badly-installed heat pump is no use to anyone!