I feel the big issue is the cost. Even with the funding from the city for the water heater, it was going to be around $5K for ~1600 square foot home. In my opinion electrification at this point is an ideal scenario for new construction or those with quite a bit of money. I am a strong advocate of helping the environment and at this point feel there are other ways I can reduce my footprint. Get more people to participate in the CoolBlock program to see what can be done to reduce one's footprint. Just my opinion.
Cecilia

Although not mentioned in the article, I also requested an additional 3 dba for heat pumps so they can be placed in the side yards of homes. 3 dba is considered a barely perceptible change in sound. All 7 public speakers requested more lenient noise standards to allow placement in the side yard for these heat pumps. The variable speed heat pumps are much quieter than traditional air conditioning but also can heat your house in the winter.

I was shocked to read Mr. Burt's quote to the effect of "No one uses his side yard."

Mr. Burt, just because you never use your side yard does not mean no one does! Our street in Midtown has many Coastwise tract houses, and they ALL have their patios on the sides of their houses! Indeed, several neighbor have major patios on both sides. The rear of the houses has their bedrooms.

My house was built in the early 2000s, so it has a more "modern" floor plan, with the kitchen and family room in the back of the house, leading out to the backyard., but my neighbors, all with much-remodeled post war houses, all have their patios on one side or the other, or both.

We must not think that "True for Me" is the same as "True for All."

Pat Burt - Just because side yard noise isn’t a problem at your house doesn’t mean it won’t be a problem for many others.
Our many screened bedroom windows are wide open throughout the warm/hot months - opening to our narrow side yard. We enjoy and rely on the cool fresh air. The loudest sound is crickets at night.
This natural cooling and the cricket’s music will end for us, replaced by adjacent machine noise, 24/7.
This decision stinks.

Haven't we already got enough noise from traffic airplanes etc? What's PA doing about airplane noise, a long-standing issue??

We also use our side yards. Mr. Burt's unfortunate and erroneous assumption typifies the uninformed decision-making in Palo Alto. It would be nice if our "leaders" did their homework before forcing their virtue-signalling policies on us.

This is only the latest example this WEEK when we also found out the city "quietly" decided to drop undergrounding utilities and to FINALLY admit that those neighborhoods already undergrounded won't get Fiber to The Home, something we already knew and inquired about months ago even though it apparently shocked CPAU which asked US which neighborhoods had been undergrounded..

But hey, what's a few hundred million dollars? And thanks for the Fiber "Survey" that asked for advance deposits but didn't let us say we didn't want fiber and that we'd rather spend the money elsewhere!

Interesting narrative in making allowances with location and noise. We should consider neighbors homes and yards over any allowance. And if we are allowing more noise, then let landscapers use their gas cutters/ blowers which are more efficient and with faster job completion.

With regard to the move to electric, let's remember that California has a weak power grid buying electricity from out of state and oil from foreign countries to make up for the Brown/ Newsom oil production cuts.

I will consider transitioning from efficient natural gas hot water/ heating/ cooking to electric heat pumps when there is a zero cost for the heat pump, installation, associated electrical work and new appliances.

Our neighborhood also has patios on the side for many of its houses. Perhaps CM Burt was thinking of houses with only narrow alley-like side "yards".

I am glad to see more attention being paid to heat pump HVAC systems and not just heat pump water heaters. 2/3 of our household natural gas usage per year is for our (92% efficiency rated) furnace, which only runs for 4 months (Nov-Feb). We are preparing to install a heat pump in our side yard, which will comply with the old standards, but which will reduce our gas usage and also provide us with cooling in the summer which we do not have now. There are no City-provided incentives for this as there are for water heaters. We will also switch our water heater but it will not have nearly the impact that the HVAC system will.

If my neighbor installs a heat pump that I find annoying loud, what is my recourse? Am stuck with this annoyance for ever? Some people are more noise sensitive than others and don't we have enough noise pollution in our lives already? This is another bad one size fits all City policy.

"The changes that the City Council approved to the Municipal Code by a 6-0 vote, with Council member Julie Lythcott-Haims recusing" -- was a reason given? Is she giving speeches about or otherwise engaging in conduct prohibited by the FPCC? Is she an investor, procuring electrical devices for resale to homeowners? Or does she manage or own one of the companies who are partners with the City in promoting the program? I'm sure there's a simple reason that I missed when I read the article.

There are more factors than noise ... I need help with understanding that these devices will not create even 1 degree of difference in a formerly "hardly ever used" side yard. I can't even stand to boot up my laptop because it creates my very own microclimate of heat.