I thought of one other disadvatage, our heat pump discharge pipe is burried in the ground and discharges below the water line into the pond. During drought conditions when the pond is low the pipe is exposed, it gets cold enough for the pipe to freeze solid and we have to run on emergency heat. We have been in drought conditions for seven years now and every fall we have had to run the well pump to bring the water level up so the pipe is covered during the winter months.
