It’s cheating! The extra energy comes from the environment. It’s much easier to steal the heat energy out of the outside air (or out of the ground in colder cli

It’s cheating! The extra energy comes from the environment. It’s much easier to steal the heat energy out of the outside air (or out of the ground in colder climates, because it stays warmer) than to create the heat yourself. Producing heat can only be COP=1 if it’s 100% efficient, but you can use the same amount of energy to move three, four, even five times as much heat to or from the outside (moving heat the opposite direction is the way air conditioners work).