I am close to finished with an 800 sq. ft. house that I am building on weekends.    Title 24 (California bs) specs say I have to have propane HVAC and propane point of use water heater.   I want to update it with mini-split hvac and 30 gallon electric water heater.  

Let's start with the water heater.  New $200 used $50.    Title24 tech says no way.  Lobbies me to go solar hot water heater.  The approved (certified kits) are $3000+   Now I would not mind spending that money, I am in the high desert, 300 days  per year of sunshine.  Only problem is there are thieves out there.  I have been broken into twice.  Panels and equipment like that is like a sacrifice to the Gods.   Take this please I have too much money.   I could go propane.   The local company has 150 gallon tanks and charges $50 for installation.  The title 24 tech says no way.    So I am in a pickle with the hot water heater.

Next the mini-split.  Title 24 tech told me either the water heater has to be solar or the mini-split has to go.  Now I see these hot units with 22 Seer.   What's up with these and title 24?   Also I have 1 living room, 1 bedroom, and 1 bathroom.   Can I just put a ceiling cassette in the living room and use a through wall fan to circulate the air to the other two rooms?     Do I have to get a 2 or 3 zone unit?   Does the bathroom count as 1 zone or can I get away with 2 zone?   I am concerned about theft.  The less I spend on these things the less I will lose after the tweakers give me a visit.

PS ICF R22 walls, radiant barrier roof, UF 0.29 windows, R40 ceiling.

I sincerely doubt that CA Title 24 requires you to use fossil fired HVAC. If that's true I'd like to know the chapter on verses for that. Pros in the know seem to think heat pumps are allowed:

http://www.title24express.com/what-...e-24-hvac/

 I'm not sure why the mini-split is being shot down by the tech- the reasons matter. It could be that even the smallest mini-split is too oversized for your actual loads? The model selected had to low an HSPF or SEER?

Or is it the room to room distribution problem.

If it's the latter, a 1-ton mini-duct cassette mini-split like the Fujitsu 12RLFD can have the output split 3 ways, and has an HSPF of 11.5, SEER of 20, and would likely still cut it capacity-wise it on the low-temp end for almost all CA locations west of the Sierra:

http://www.fujitsugeneral.com/PDF_06/Submittals/12RLFCD%20Submittal.pdf

There's a 3/4 ton version and a 1.25 ton version too, if that makes it or breaks it. The efficiency numbers on the 3/4 tonner are higher, at HSPF 12.2/SEER 21.5:

http://www.fujitsugeneral.com/PDF_0...mittal.pdf

A 3-head multisplit would be absolutely hideously oversized for your likely loads.  I suspect your heating loads are under 10,000 BTU/hr unless you have a huge amount of window area (which would also drive the cooling loads sky high), and if you don't have much west facing window area the peak cooling loads are probably no more than 12,000 BTU/hr.  But fer yuks, what's the ZIP code, so we can figure out your 99% & 1% outside design temps and take a WAG at it?

Would a ~$1000 heat pump water heater like the GeoSpring make the grade? It's a lot more money than a propane HW heater, (but it's cheaper to install) and a heluva lot cheaper than rooftop copper donations to the meth-addicted party fund