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Reverse Cycle Air Conditioner vs Gas Log Heater?

• Hi, I am looking at buying a gas log heater for warming the house in winter. Currently we have a fujitsu 'inverter' reverse cycle air conditioner, which is the primary heating source for the house. I have read that reverse cycle air conditioners are very efficient for heating the house, as they draw atmospheric heat from outside the house. However, we live in a cold part of Victoria, Australia, and the average temperature outside is about 8 degrees celsius in the evenings, during winter. I am skeptical about the efficiency of a reverse cycle air conditioner, and I was wondering how viable a gas log heater might be for warming the house. The gas log heater would be running off natural gas, and at the current prices, looks like it costs about 40c to run per hour. I have tried to do a comparison with the reverse cycle air conditioner, but I can't come to a reasonable estimate of cost per hour, as I really don't know how much energy it is consuming. Also, the house is shaped so that the living area is down one end of the house, and the bedrooms are up the other. We are looking at installing a heat transfer pipe from the living area to the rest of the house, to compliment the gas log heater. Any suggestions/advice are most welcome. Also, if possible I would like to know how to work out the energy required to run the reverse cycle air conditioner in these conditions. Should I get a gas log heater?

• Answer:

  the heat pump is a very efficent unit and dosent cost much to run. it will work if its 1 degree because there is always heat that can be drawn from what we say is cold. the only wat a heat pump can get expencive is if it cant keep up and has to use a secondary heat sorce which is heating elements that pull lots of electricity, as far as price it would be about 31c to $1.50 per hour as far as i could find.