Essentially, it's a different way to heat your home with natural gas or electricity. You still have to use one of those to heat the water. |
Heat pumps have the advantage of replacing air at the same time they heat it. The problem in the Chicago area is that when it gets below zero, they are not as effective, and you do need some backup system. |
It's probably, in the Chicago area, close to 90 percent of the homes using natural gas. The reason being, quite frankly, natural gas has been the most affordable and available heating sources over the past 30 years. |