Water heaters and furnaces that run on natural gas are scheduled to mostly disappear from Bay Area shelves in the coming years as some of the most aggressive anti-pollution appliance laws in the country kick in.
But on Wednesday the Bay Area Air District, best known for pollution-fighting Spare the Air Days, will discuss whether to allow exemptions for households with low incomes or significant building constraints for whom the swap could be too expensive.
In a recent report, district staff estimated that it costs about $3,500 more to install an electric heat pump water heater compared to a natural gas model, on average, including equipment and labor. And there are still no electric options for models 35 gallons and smaller…