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Yup. And at least here in Finland the pumps come with the resistive heater included so it automatically switches over to it once it gets too cold.

Which where most people live here averages to less then 1 day per year so not a big deal.

Way bigger issue here is some fall storm destroying the power lines and being without electricity for multiple days when it already is cold enough they one needs heating.

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That's an issue even with gas furnaces here in the US, as they won't run without electricity.

Yes but it only requires a couple hundred watts to power the blower motor and electronics of a gas furnace. They're easy to power off of a small portable generator or even a cheap inverter hooked up to your car. The same cannot be said of a heat pump or resistive heater.

They are, and I have a contingency plan for this myself, but few people have the tools and knowledge required to accomplish this.

Anyone with $200-500 can go buy a kerosene heater and some sealed kerosene which will keep one ventilated room warm for awhile in an absolute emergency.

With the common skill set people have now, half the people trying it would kill themselves. :s

True, but furnaces have a much lower power draw. They are easy to run off a generator, which are common in areas that frequently lose power.

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