The Berkeley Friends Who Decided to Fix the Electrical Upgrade Problem

Tenzin Soepa and Andrei Smith built a heat pump company first then discovered that the real barrier to modern homes was hiding inside the walls.

There's a moment every homeowner in Berkeley or Oakland eventually faces: the moment you decide to modernize, and the moment you discover what that will actually cost. The charm of a 1920s Craftsman is real original woodwork, bay windows, the particular quality of light through old glass. But behind those walls, the electrical system often tells a different story. Knob-and-tube wiring, 100-amp panels, circuits that weren't designed for anything beyond a few lights and a radio. When a homeowner tries to add a heat...