Casey Handmer seems to think there’s still an opportunity here. There are updated versions of that post, but I think this was his first on the topic.

It’s true they’re at worst 100% efficient, but they’re also typically sized lower than resistive electric heaters in terms of input power. In the US, a residential heat pump likely draws about 4kW, whereas resistive heat strips or baseboard heating could be multiples of that. As an air source heat pump’s output drops on very cold days, a unit rated for e.g. 48000BTU/hr at 47°f might produce only half of that at 5°f/-15c. A “good” unit here would produce perhaps 75%. The way we do HVAC sizing, unless you radically oversized the system for most weather (including air conditioning) you’ll need a backup source of heat on the coldest days.

Code (law specifying how much heating / cooling capacity is required in normal worst-case weather conditions) where I live would require me to use about 2x the normal sizing to achieve pure heat pump heating at the required design temperature (around 5f/-15c). That means at the peak of summer (about 100f/38c) the unit would be operating at less than half of its full cooling capacity.

Apologies for weird units; I live in MAGAland.

Some do; others think it’s a valid argument because they see their media sources (or at least people around them) do it.

I did, and multiple friends are either actively working on doing the same or have expressed interest but have constraints (e.g. an autistic child who found a school / therapist they like, or non-ASD kids in hard age ranges to move).

Contributing to a pro-birth, anti-democracy, anti-reasonable-gun-control, transphobic economy in a hot humid climate that’s getting worse made no sense.

Texas literally banned ensuring workers get 10 minute water breaks every four hours. They banned cities voting to protect their own trees. Local democracies try to make things better and Texas says no. All the while, Texas refuses to employ a fair taxation strategy for less-urban areas, so blue cities have to fund the red counties’ school districts. Anybody not actively fighting to improve the political situation there should leave.

I haven’t missed the weather at all.

You’re underwater on a mortgage - this may not be catastrophic if you have a COVID interest rate and the place is rentable. Is that an option?