Heat pump rebate finder

What is the federal HEAR program and who qualifies?

HEAR (Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates) is the federal program created by the Inflation Reduction Act to pay homeowners directly for upgrading from fossil fuel to electric appliances. For heat pumps, HEAR pays up to $8,000 for households below 80 percent of Area Median Income (AMI) and up to $4,000 for households at 80 to 150 percent AMI. Households above 150 percent AMI do not qualify for HEAR. The rebate goes to the contractor at point of sale, so you pay less out of pocket instead of waiting for a refund or tax credit.

HEAR is administered by each state through its energy office, so the rollout schedule differs by state. As of mid-2026, the states with HEAR active or on the way are Massachusetts, New York, Maine, Vermont, Washington, Colorado, California, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Indiana, Arizona, and a growing list of others. California's HEAR program is fully reserved and waitlisted as of February 2026. Colorado closed Region 1 (Front Range) but Region 2 is still open.

The biggest state heat pump rebate programs

Several states stack their own incentives on top of HEAR, often doubling or tripling the total rebate available. The richest programs as of mid-2026:

• Mass Save (Massachusetts): up to $8,500 for whole-home heat pump install with weatherization bonus, plus a fully covered system for households below 60 percent AMI
• NYSERDA Clean Heat (New York): $1,000 to $5,000 per heat pump, plus EmPower+ covering up to $10,000 for low-income single-family homes
• Efficiency Maine: $1,000 to $3,000 per outdoor unit, max $9,000 for a whole-home ducted system
• TECH Clean California: $1,000 to $4,300 per heat pump depending on utility, higher for equity-tier homes
• Efficiency Vermont: $400 to $3,000 per cold-climate heat pump, $5,500 max for low-income
• Energy Trust of Oregon: $1,000 to $2,500 per cold-climate ductless or ducted heat pump

Combined with HEAR, a household below 80 percent AMI in Massachusetts can stack to over $18,000 in heat pump rebates. The same household in New York can stack to $16,000. In Maine the cap hits $17,000 with HEAR plus Efficiency Maine plus utility rebates.

Utility heat pump rebates: the hidden tier most people miss

On top of federal and state programs, most major utility companies offer their own heat pump rebates ranging from $300 to $2,500 per install. These stack with state and federal rebates and are often the fastest payment to receive because the utility runs the program directly. Major utility programs include:

• Con Edison and National Grid (NY): $500 to $2,000 instant rebates
• Xcel Energy (CO, MN, WI): $500 to $2,500 for cold-climate heat pumps
• Puget Sound Energy and Seattle City Light (WA): $800 to $3,000 stacked with state
• Duke Energy (NC, SC, IN, FL, OH, KY): $200 to $1,500 depending on territory
• Pacific Gas and Electric and Southern California Edison: $1,000 to $3,000 inside the TECH program
• Eversource (MA, CT, NH): runs Mass Save and Connecticut's Energize CT program

To find every utility program in your specific ZIP code, use the DSIRE database at dsireusa.org. DSIRE is the most complete public registry of state, local, and utility incentives and is updated quarterly.

What happened to the federal 25C tax credit for heat pumps?

The federal 25C Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit that paid up to $2,000 toward qualifying heat pumps expired on December 31, 2025. Any heat pump installed on January 1, 2026 or later does not qualify for the 25C credit. The credit cannot be retroactively claimed for new installs. The HEAR rebate program (described above) is the major federal incentive that replaced it for moving heat pump market activity forward.

A common mistake homeowners and even some HVAC contractors are making in 2026 is quoting the expired $2,000 federal credit as part of the savings math. Push back if a contractor promises the federal tax credit. State rebates, HEAR, and utility rebates are the active programs.

How heat pump rebates stack: the income-qualified path

The biggest mistake homeowners make on rebates is not checking income eligibility. Income tier (relative to AMI) usually triples the available rebate. A four-person household in Boston earning under $115,000 per year (roughly 80 percent of MA AMI) qualifies for the Mass Save income-eligible track AND the full HEAR low-income tier AND the higher Eversource utility rebate. Stacked, that homeowner can get a $25,000 cold-climate heat pump install for under $3,000 out of pocket. The same homeowner over 150 percent AMI gets the market-rate Mass Save rebate of $8,500 plus modest utility rebates and pays roughly $11,000 to $14,000 out of pocket on the same install.

Income tier verification is straightforward: most programs use IRS Form 1040 line 11 adjusted gross income and compare to HUD's published AMI table for your county. The state program portals have a calculator built in. Take 30 minutes to check eligibility before you sign a quote.

How to actually claim a heat pump rebate

Four-step process that applies to most programs:

• Choose qualifying equipment. The rebate program publishes a list of eligible models. Most require Energy Star certification, HSPF2 8.1 or higher, and SEER2 15.2 or higher. Cold-climate programs (Efficiency Maine, NYSERDA Clean Heat) require AHRI cold-climate listing.
• Use a participating contractor. Many programs only pay rebates if the install is done by a contractor on the approved list. Check the program portal before you book.
• Pre-qualify before install. Most programs require you to submit an application and get pre-approval before the contractor starts work. After-the-fact applications are routinely denied.
• Submit final paperwork after install. The contractor usually handles this for point-of-sale rebates. For mail-in rebates, you submit receipts and AHRI certificate to the program office. Payment lands 30 to 90 days later.

Heat pump tax credit vs rebate: what is the difference?

Tax credits reduce your federal or state income tax liability for the year. You file a tax return, claim the credit, and pay less tax (or get a bigger refund). The expired 25C credit was a federal tax credit. Rebates pay you (or your contractor) directly, usually at point of sale or within 60 to 90 days of install, regardless of your tax bill. HEAR is a rebate. Mass Save, NYSERDA, and Efficiency Maine are rebates. Utility incentives are rebates. For most homeowners, rebates are better than tax credits because the money arrives faster and you do not need taxable income to benefit. Low-income households especially benefit because they may not have enough tax liability to use a credit.