We had another big power outage Monday in B’game. At the start, the PG&E app said about 5,000 “users”, meaning service addresses, were out including long-suffering Broadway. Figure as many as 8-10,000 people lost power for some period of time. The area around City Hall was still out more than an hour after it was first reported. At this point it appears such outages don’t even merit a mention in the news–except here at the Voice.

Therefore, now is the perfect time to recap the long SF Comicle article from Sunday titled “What to know about water heater changes“. Writer Brooke Park might be out of a job–or in line for a Pulitzer–because her piece actually got it right on about 80% of the problems with the impending gas water heater ban. It’s almost a full page long and hits on:

Adding both a heat pump water heater and a heat pump furnace system could push more homeowners toward costly electrical panel upgrades. Older homes often have 100-amp panels, while newer or upgraded homes may have 200-amp panels or higher. Homes with multiple new electric appliances — such as two heat pumps and an electric vehicle charger — may be more likely to need electrical upgrades, especially if they have lower-capacity panels.

While Park captured the basics, the time and delay to find an electrician, get them scheduled and get the work done along with the permitting isn’t captured in the estimate. Nor is any sort of removal costs for the “obsolete” gas plumbing, vents, roof repair, etc, etc.

The Bay Are Air District said that an average natural gas water heater installation would be around $3,500 while a heat pump installation would cost about $7,000. At the high end, if for example significant electrical work is needed, the costs of a heat pump installation could rise to $38,800, the air district said.

(One guy in Foster City), Mark Allen was expecting at least a $2,500 rebate from his electricity provider but is still navigating the reimbursement process. “No kidding, 16 emails back-and-forth, we still did not have a permit and almost 2½, 3 months had gone by,” Allen said. When he got the necessary paperwork and submitted the rebate, the electricity provider said he was past the deadline.

Beyond the higher expense, heat pump water heaters can be larger, louder and slower to heat water than their natural gas counterparts.  “If you have the right setup for it, yes, it could be good. But I personally would never want to put one in my house,” said Chris Guslani, the owner of Bay Area Water Heaters, which installs natural gas water heaters as well as the occasional heat pump. “They don’t heat up as fast, they’re loud, they’re huge.”

Both (120V and 240V) models will produce noise comparable to a refrigerator, which is similar to the noise of a natural gas water heater. But the heat pump will often run for twice as long, Guslani said. Homes typically have 50- or 65-gallon tanks to hold hot water. Once that is exhausted, 120-volt models can typically heat from seven to 15 gallons of water per hour, while 240-volt water heaters can warm approximately 18 gallons to 23 gallons if its hybrid mode, which uses traditional electric water heater elements to warm water faster, is unlocked, installers said.  A gas-powered water heater can heat about 30 gallons of water per hour.

Guslani said that in about 60% of cases he’s seen, gas water heaters operate in spaces without any wall sockets. And manufacturers warn against using extension cords for water heaters. Heat pump water heater tanks might need to be up to 15 gallons larger than those used with natural gas water heaters to account for slower heating times, according to the air district. Heat pumps, which are often a foot taller than natural gas models, also typically need to be installed in rooms with more than 700 cubic feet to allow for adequate airflow.

There’s more that I will add as a comment, but it all reminds me of “Besides that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?” The bureaucrats are expected to vote on who gets exemptions in October, so let the virtue signaling begin. One of our County Supes, Ray Mueller, is tapping the brakes on the idea or at least the Jan. 1, 2027 start date.