I have lived in the more northern reaches of the country my entire life so I know all about Winter time weather & dealing with the realities of heating a home.
That said, I genuinely prefer to live right here.
The Winter time is indeed taxing but I’d far rather deal with the weather here than have to deal with all the a/c down south. Not taking anything away from that region because I prefer to vacation there to get a cut from the gas furnace each winter. Still, I’ll stick with winters up here. I prefer having a white Christmas. And all of us are all into outdoor Winter time sports prefer skiing, hockey & snowshoeing. Still, I know what it’s like to have no heating for a few afternoons so I’m genuinely grateful for the consistent heating and air conditioning heating I get from the gas furnace. The gas furnace I had before this one conked out on my & I had to wait afternoons, due to a snow storm, before an heating and air conditioning professional could get to me. But thankfully, that was prior to me having children & I was able to work it out. Still, I now have a back up in the wood stove I had put in. Plus, it’s kind of nice to have the wood stove as supplemental heating when it genuinely gets cold. But with a bit of preparation, including heating and air conditioning service, the winter’s are not only manageable but genuinely enjoyable. So even when I retire, I don’t believe I’ll be trading my gas furnace for a heat pump.