It's good to see a politician actually doing their own analysis rather than just following every fad. It's a characteristic that is sorely lacking from the US political class.
The US Political Class is made up of Gullible people unable to do their own research because that is what the system has incentivized electing
People with intelligence, principles, and convictions rarely last long in politics;
People lacking those skills but the ability to charismatically reiterate the talking points of politically connected charities, action groups or lobbiest are well sought after....
A more optimistic interpretation of "The US Political Class is made up of Gullible people unable to do their own research because that is what the system has incentivized electing" would be that the US political class can't possibly do their own research on every topic that they have to govern and instead have to rely on external experts. Not arguing that it ends up being those with the most money being the loudest, but it makes sense that you'd want to use the research of others for your own decision making if you're not an expert and have access to experts.
They're not "gullible" -- they exist to flog the views of those who elected them; that's their job. They exist to be a sock puppet for their voters.
Think tanks exist to come up with policy prescriptions. There are just so many topics, internationally, locally, nationally, that no one can be a deep-dive expert unless they focus specifically on it.
I would agree with you if that person would have mentioned research paper and not just some very weak anecdotal evidence.
I find it very weird that their heat pump leaked and the efficiency is only at 150%.
It's not clear at all if this is an crazy outlier or reality.
IF this is not just an outlier than the next proper step from him would be to get the ball rolling with the right people to investigate the status quiet and fixing it.
Heat Pump efficiency is inversely linked to outside air temp, the colder it is outside the less efficient the heat pump is as there is less heat energy to extract from the outside to "pump" into the inside...
Fixing is called physics... I am not sure magic words on a page (regulation) will "fix" physics....
It's really difficult to understand what is going on with this politician's heat pump though because we are lacking a lot of basic information. A high quality minisplit system should top out at a COP of over 3.5 and be above 2 down to single digit F temperatures. E.g., https://www.mitsubishitechinfo.ca/sites/default/files/SB_PVA... has a COP of 2.17 at 5F. It seems like there is more to the story. A small duct/high velocity system could perform that poorly, but without the details it's just hard to tell. Most folks with normal ducting or ductless heat pump systems should realize much better efficiency than this guy is getting.
Well looking up the specs for an Amana Budget system [1] that is more typical for what you would find in American home (mini Splits are rare here, and normally installed in Garages and Shops, not primary residences ) 1.5 Ton unit COP drops to 1.4 @ -5 and only matches the efficiency of the minisplit you linked @ 10 degrees
if I look at the high end an Amana System[2] and 2 Ton unit (which is more common size in the US) COP drops to 1.7 @ -5 and drops to about 2 at single digits.
> I think the base of the problem is that the heat pumps he has installed are simply inappropriate for his climate.
The question is whether there is such a thing as a heat pump that's appropriate for use in the Northeastern US. It seems unlikely to me that someone with this person's level of engagement would have stupidly chosen to install the wrong kind of heat pump or chosen an installer incapable of recommending the best options.
I live in New York State and the government is nearing the point of banning gas installations in new construction here. I have yet to see any real cost benefit analysis for such a policy in a state with such cold winters.
I agree it's still a somewhat open question, but I think the data is that Massachusetts is probably on the side where it can make sense with the right equipment. Here's a real world analysis of a heat pump in Connecticut that averaged an full heating season COP of about 3.0: https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy13osti/56393.pdf
I disagree that he's unlikely to have chosen a bad installer. They seem to have installed a non-cold-climate heat pump in Massachusetts. If that's true, I think it's strong evidence that they were not competent and should not have been trusted. I guess one could argue that this was a low probability choice, but I think it's as likely there were simply no more competent installers available in his area.
Brownsberger is my state senator and he's actually pretty great, he works on things his constituents care about and I've seen him on public transit a number of times.
My only real critique of him is that he had too much faith in the MBTA getting battery electric busses up and running when voting to get rid of our trolleybus system (MBTA 71 and 73).
People with intelligence, principles, and convictions rarely last long in politics;
People lacking those skills but the ability to charismatically reiterate the talking points of politically connected charities, action groups or lobbiest are well sought after....