Heat pumps don't cut it here in Michigan. We have a natural gas furnace, forced air, and a separate central air conditioning unit.

Interesting... I had no idea heat pumps are only useful in certain climates.

Unless you go geothermal, they are not much use when they have to alter the temperature more than 30 degrees or so. So, dropping the house to 72 when it is 96 out, fine; getting that house up to 68 when it is zero outside? Not going to happen. Heat pumps are wonderful for the climates that don't get sustained freezing temperatures. Or when hooked up as part of a geothermal system, using the constant earth temperature below the frost line.

I remember looking at a new home back in the 90s. It had a heat pump. It was cold outside and I still felt cold inside. The salesman told us that the heat pump doesn't work like regular heat. You set it at 72 degrees, and the temp of the air coming out of the ducts is 72 degrees, so it feels different. Normally you get hot air coming out. This was an electric heat pump, so I don't know if anything has changed since then.

I live in a cold climate (Vermont) so I use a renewable heat source for my main heat. My woodstove. Oil is backup.

We lived in a town house in the Chicago area with a heat pump and when the temps got down into the teens the house wouldn't heat up higher than the 60's. (The teens is standard for most of the winter up here.) We ended up having several space heaters.

Heat pumps are put in many condos/townhouses because it is a cheap way to go but are not reliable in the colder climates.

Heat pumps have heat strips that kick on when the temp gets down below a certain temp...like 23ð...it can actually function as well as normal CHA unit...they work just fine in any climate but not necessarily efficiently in any climate.

It can be 0ð outside and a heat pump will bring the temp up to anywhere you want it...although it will rely on it's heat strips (auxiliary heat) to do so...so if your having an issue with your heat pump heating it's not because it's a heat pump...it's because you have a malfunctioning heat pump....or a really poorly insulated home.

Yeah, I had one of those once in Florida, with the supplemental heat. It kicked in, and my electric bill pretty much doubled in 3 days. Not a good choice where that supplemental heat will be needed 5 months of the year.

This is true... Although Florida's climate should be perfect for a heat pump.

I'm basically just wondering how many people spend the extra $$$$ to purchase an Energy Star Compliant manufactured home and their dealer puts on a 13 SEER heat pump (minimum SEER allowed by law) which is not Energy Star Compliant...Which in my opinion is like buying a Corvette and putting a 4 cylinder engine under the hood.

That is an interesting question. I would expect the Energy Star Compliant label to include the heating system. I do know my home came with an energy-efficient furnace.

Yes I agree you would expect that but unfortunately it doesn't... when purchasing an Energy Star compliant home buyers need to work into the deal that the dealer must install a minimum of a 14 SEER heat pump or CHA unit to meet Energy Star requirements.

Another thing with heat pumps is that they are designed to move a lot of air and not raise the temp much. This is why the air feels "cold" coming out of the vents. Also why heat pumps don't get their efficiency if not hooked to ducts designed to move a lot of air. Installing heat pumps will require you redo all your ducting if you want the efficiency. We have them in TN and they do keep up with heating, though the aux heat does come on when it is REALLY cold.

ductwork should always be sized to size of system installed.
heat pumps don't require any different sizing than
any other hvac system.

hvac system should always be sized for the
dwelling, avoid rule of thumb sizing always.

there are also dual fuel heat pumps.
when temp gets below 30 degrees instead
of electric strip heat, then ng or lp gas heat
is activated.
works very well in heating climates.

heat pumps today are not the heat pumps
of 30 years ago.
florida is a perfect state, like La. for
heat pumps.

something to remember in mobile homes
is that the system had to be the type for
mobile homes. can't just stick any system
in place.

if one is used to gas heat, heat from a
heat pump isn't as warm. If one has
access to ng, that would be the better
choice than a heat pump.

personally I prefer mid range efficiency.
15 to 17 SEER has includes good efficiency
for an affordable upgrade cost with a decent
payback period.

best of luck