The contractor who didn't believe in heat pumps changed my mind about retrofits

I was talking to a guy named Mike at a hardware store in Cleveland last Saturday. He installs gas furnaces for a living and straight up told me heat pumps can't handle our winters and would cost me double in electric bills. I showed him the efficiency numbers from last January when my neighbor ran one at 5 degrees, and his whole face went quiet. Have any of you convinced a stubborn tradesperson with real data, or is that a lost cause?

2 comments

2 Comments

margaret_taylor4213d ago

And here I thought Mike was the only guy who needed a calculator to argue with physics.

emmaj3313d ago

Needed a calculator to argue with physics" is the best way to put it, @margaret_taylor42. I had the same thing with my uncle who swore up and down his old oil burner was the only thing that worked. Last winter I pulled up the power usage from my own place during that cold snap in February, showed him the actual kilowatts and the temp outside, and he just stood there staring at his phone. Didn't say a word for a full minute. Then he mumbled something about "newer stuff must be different" and dropped it. Numbers don't lie, but some guys would rather stick with what they know than admit they might have missed something.