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I have to confess, @ethicalpaul , that I have never quite managed to understand why one would deliberately underdesign something. Whether it is a heating system, or a bridge, or an airplane. Gross overdesign, yes, I do think that is silly (and sometimes counterproductive), but deliberate underdesign? There may be a small capital cost advantage to underdesign, but not an installation difference (unless the underdesign is large, in which case, at least as an engineer, you should lose your license) and the running costs will be very similar.

So why the hair shirt?

As a Massachusetts homeowner, engineer, and concerned inhabitant of a warming planet, I'll venture to make a few comments.

As an engineer, I've read the science, and it's clear that human-generated greenhouse gases are warming the planet (in general, though some local effects vary). It's also clear that there may be other mechanisms like methane release from warming permafrost that can amplify/accelerate the warming trend. But while the rate and ultimate severity of warming is difficult to predict, the fact that it's happening now, and what the root causes are, aren't seriously debatable.

What is debatable is what should we do about it, who pays for it, and what are reasonable costs for governments to levy on citizens. We will all have different answers to those questions depending on our points of view, financial situation, etc.

In my case here in MA, our 100-year-old 4-unit condo building burns oil for heat. A few years ago I looked into converting our boilers to gas, but some of the price quotes I got were ridiculous. I finally gave up. In retrospect that was fortunate, because last winter natural gas prices in eastern MA rose sharply as utilities tried to recoup the costs of upgrading aging delivery infrastructure. So we still burn oil, about 1200 gallons per year.

I also looked into converting to hydronic heat pumps. Our original cast iron radiators would be ideal for heating the building with low-temperature (120 degree) water heated by air-to-water heat pump. I contacted a local heat pump expert and was told that such a conversion would probably cost somewhere in the $50k-$100k range as a rough ballpark. As we are a condo association with 4 owners, most of whom do not have a clear idea how long they will be here, a potential $25k hit for an energy conversion of dubious payback is a non-starter. So until the cost of air-to-water heat pumps comes down drastically, this is not an economically feasible option.

@DCContrarian generously offered to run some numbers on potential heat pump energy savings for us, and I can find that post now, but as I recall, his numbers showed only a few hundred dollars per year potential cost savings. So not only would the conversion cost be astronomical, the payback in cost savings would be minimal.

So I understand people's frustration with "mandates" geared towards shifting to heat pumps. In some areas it does seem to make sense. Maine is adopting residential heat pumps at record rates, and they have incentives that both lower the cost of conversion and lower the cost of the electricity to run them. So Maybe Maine has figured out a reasonable system that other states could learn from.

Here in Massachusetts, as I understand it, the Clean Heat standard would not force homeowners like us to convert to heat pumps. Rather, it would require energy providers (like our oil company) to "earn" clean heat credits by weatherizing/insulating homes, installing heat pumps for homeowners who want them, etc. And yes, energy companies who don't earn enough credits would likely be taxed, with the additional cost passed on to consumers who continue to burn oil and gas.

So we would probably end up paying more for our heating oil, as we have no economical way to convert to heat pumps. Then the question is, what is a reasonable tax amount, and who should pay it? I recognize that our oil consumption, and my gas-burning car, are heating the atmosphere in a way that's likely to severly impact future generations. Unfortunately I can't convert to less impactful heating and driving systems right now, so I'm willing to pay a reasonable tax that would incentivize/help others to make that conversion. What is a reasonable tax, and who should be required to pay it, are reasonable questions that different people will answer differently.

"My symptoms were when water was diverted to the shower head there was some still flowing to the tub spout."

That's the way they're supposed to work. According to Symmons, they say a "pencil width" stream is considered normal. I describe it as something more than a dribble.