Nah. It does not necessarily have to be an air-water heatpump either, colder climates more often use geo-thermal or ground-water loops as the energy-well. Then

Nah. It does not necessarily have to be an air-water heatpump either, colder climates more often use geo-thermal or ground-water loops as the energy-well. Then the surrounding climate have much less of an impact. Refrigerant leaks are still an issue though, but moving to hydrocarbons and CO2 will mitigate that. Even R32 is a step up in that regard.