#rebates

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DOE Guidance Ends Gas-to-Electric Rebates in $4.5 Billion HEAR Program

The Department of Energy quietly rewrote the rules of the biggest home electrification rebate program in the country. Guidance issued May 29 ends High-Efficiency Electric Home Rebate (HEAR) eligibility for households replacing fossil-fuel appliances with electric ones. Heat pump rebates now apply only to new construction or homes that already heat with electricity.

Translation: the gas-furnace-to-heat-pump rebate is gone.

HEAR is the $4.5 billion program from the Inflation Reduction Act that offered low- and moderate-income households up to $8,000 toward a heat pump and up to $14,000 in total rebates. About a dozen states plus D.C. have active programs (Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Maine, Michigan, New York, North Carolina and Wisconsin among them), and all of them now have roughly three months to rewrite their eligibility rules.

The timing stings because the federal 25C tax credit, worth up to $2,000 on a qualifying heat pump, already expired on December 31, 2025. A homeowner converting from gas heat to electric now has essentially zero federal incentive money available.

The equipment economics have not changed. Heat pumps have outsold gas furnaces nationally for years because they cost less to run in most climates. But the upfront math just got harder in exactly the income bracket the program was designed to help, and advocates are saying so loudly. One efficiency group told Inside Climate News the change removes one of the most transformative aspects of the original design.

If you have a conversion quote in hand that assumed rebate money, get it re-quoted before you sign. Full story with state-by-state context: ServiceMag

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Heat Pumps Break the Green-Tech Income Barrier, Making IRA Rebates Uniquely Equitable

NBER 2024, RECS microdata, n=18,496. Heat pump adoption is essentially flat across income levels. Solar 60% to top quintile. EVs 90% to top quintile. Heat pumps, roughly even.

Why? Purchase occasion. Solar and EVs are discretionary. Heat pumps typically replace a failed HVAC system, and failures don't care about income. Climate, geography, and electricity prices drive adoption more than household wealth.

Policy implication: IRA heat pump rebates are unusually equitable among green-tech programs. 30% federal credit up to $2,000. HEEHRA rebates for low/moderate income can cover 100% of cost for qualifying households.

Contractor playbook: in mixed-income neighborhoods, lean on the rebate stack. When a furnace dies in January, the household that was going to do like-for-like replacement is open to a heat pump pitch if you can quote net-of-incentives on the spot.

Caveat: HEEHRA rollout is slow. Many state portals aren't fully operational yet. Track your state. Steer customers to whichever incentive is actually live.

Full analysis.

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Week 43/2025: IB46357021 rebates $1006+ ( Tickmill)

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Week 40/2025: IB46357021 rebates $1148+ ( Tickmill)

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Week 39/2025: IB46357021 rebates $1128+ ( Tickmill)