Bay Area homeowners who need a new water heater will be able to buy a gas model for at least one more year, and many will be able to keep doing so after that.
The Bay Area Air District's board voted 16-1 on Wednesday to amend its 2023 rule on nitrogen oxide emissions from water heaters, CalMatters reported. The rule never required anyone to swap out a working unit. It applies when a heater is replaced, and the start date for most homes has moved from January 2027 to January 2028.
After that, most replacements will need to be a model with zero nitrogen oxide emissions, which in practice usually means an electric heat pump. Pleasanton is in the district's nine-county area.
Who is exempt
Under the amended rule, as described by CalMatters:
- Households at or below 80% of area median income, or signed up for aid like Medi-Cal or CalFresh, may install gas.
- So may owners who spend 28% or more of gross income on mortgage plus property taxes. By the district's estimate, roughly one in five Bay Area households fits one of these two groups.
- Homes where a heat pump will not physically fit, or where the electrical panel cannot carry it, get a one-time exemption, estimated to cover about 20% of installations.
- Tanks of 30 gallons or less remain on sale because no zero-emission units that small are sold in the U.S.
- Bigger tanks, the kind often found in apartment complexes and commercial buildings, get until 2033, two years later than before.
District staff estimate the exemptions could put about half of the rule's originally projected pollution reductions out of reach. A district spokesperson told CalMatters the rule as passed would still head off as many as 16 early deaths and 21 new cases of asthma each year.
