was wondering positives/negatives to a heat pump over conventional gas heat

You have a problem with Equitable Gas?

The main drawback with heat pumps is that you are substituting one utility bill for another- you must have West Penn Electric and not Duquesne. If you are on a boiler system then it may have some merits.

The way I beat Equitable was with a 90+ furnace. It decreased my gas bills to less than half of what they were-10 years ago. My highest reading this winter was $82 (I am not on the budget). The furnace paid for itself in about three years time. In fact for the first two years they sent inspectors to check and replace my gas meter since they assumed I was tampering with it (an easy job by the way). Also make sure that you are well insulated or nothing is going to help the bills.

Stop by and look at the site at http://www.shoppittsburgh.net

I have investigate on Heat Pump for my Sun
room several years ago. And what I found is
that if you live in a zone are where its falls below 17 degrees then the Heat pump will use the backup power such as electric up
to 40 AMPs. So I drop it instead to use a 90%
AFUE and I am GLAD I did.

Heat Pumps are good for warmer zones.

Stevo

Actually, heat pumps go into reserve heat, what I call toaster-mode, when the outside temperature falls below the minimum temperature the heat pump needs to keep the house at a certain temperature. For air-exchange heat pumps, if you want 68 degrees inside, it will need to be about 35 degrees or better outside. If you want to raise the temperature, for any reason, more than a couple of degrees, a toaster coil will come on no matter what.

Most units have 3 stages of toaster-mode, representing each of 3 resistance heat coils that glow much like a toaster does.

By 17 degrees, all 3 coils will be on, and your electric meter wheel will be spinning at about 27,000 rpm.