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Like you said "keep as a backup". In areas that get cold, you can't just use a heat pump. Residential heat pumps are only good to about 20 to 25f. Once it gets colder than that you have to have a gas or an electric backup, and at that stage electric is less efficient than gas. So why install an electric backup system (coils that get hot in your blower unit) when you already have gas in place and set up? Running the electric backup coils like I have set up in my all electric house with heat pump uses a large amount of electricity when I have to use it. I have a heat pump that's a bit older (2007), so it stops warming closer to 30 degrees.
Large scale commercial units (like 14 ton units, where residential is usually around 3.5 ton) can do more. Even down to around -3 f, but not residential, and where I'm at it sometimes get below those temps as well.
Our heat pump (Mitsubishi H2Hi) did fine regularly in single digits F last winter. I know there's a limit (for efficiency more than function) but it's definitely getting lower. We had one day -10F or so and no pipes froze (we were actually out of town which was nerve wracking so I don't know if the house got colder than the thermostat requested).
We had 3 days of -10 to 0 ish in Colorado over MLK Jr weekend, my H2i kept 68F in the house no problem. It dropped to 67 a few times during defrost cycles, since I have no backup. It works great, im sure your house did just fine unless is severely undersized.
That was true a couple decades ago, but hasn't really been true in a while.
A combination of inverters, variable speed compressors, vapor injection, and using slightly different refrigerants means there's a number of cold climate heat pumps on the market that will heat down below -13°F.