I live in Central Ohio and we occasionally get below zero temps. We have a Lennox heat pump now. It's about 10 yrs old, but not one of the new ones designed for below way below freezing temps. It is our primary source of heat and cooling, with an electric furnace for back up. The new house that we're building will have one of those, a Trane, with electric heat for back up.

I love the heat pump because I dislike an overly warm house. I'd guess that the heat coming out of my registers from the heat pump, even at near or slightly below freezing, is around 80 degrees, which is far lower than the 90 or higher from gas heat. It feels much cooler to those who like that blast of hot air because it's cooler than normal body temperature, which makes it feel cool when it blows over your skin. That's why some people think it's much cooler than gas heat. It's like getting into a bath tub filled with 80 degree water - it feels cooler than it is because it's not body temperature.

I tend to keep our current house at about 65 during the day and 62 at night because I like a cooler house. I can't sleep in a warm room and like to wear sweaters and winter clothes, rather than wearing less clothing in the winter. I was raised in a old farmhouse, where the heat stayed on the main floor and the upstairs bedrooms were pretty chilly, so I like it that way now. The air conditioning provided by heat pumps is far superior and much cheaper to run than most other types of air conditioning. Our current heat pump keeps our house at 65 - 70 when it's 95 outside without breaking a sweat or our budget!

Most people who switch from gas forced air heating to heat pumps usually don't like the "cool" air that heat pumps produce and complain about them, but even at below freezing temps, we rarely turn on the supplemental heat unless it gets to around zero or below. If you like a 75 - 80 degree house, you probably won't like a heat pump, but it sounds like you're like me and like it cooler than that.