With the federal tax credits gone, most of the money for home energy upgrades now comes from state programs, utilities and local governments. The trouble is that it’s scattered across dozens of websites, and the good stuff isn’t always easy to find. This is the routine we’d follow before signing a contract for a heat pump, insulation, a water heater or an electrical upgrade.
Start with your state energy office
Search for your state’s “home energy rebates” page, and cross-check it against the US Department of Energy’s list of state programs. You’re looking for the Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates (HEAR) and the whole-home HOMES rebates. Write down whether each is open, waitlisted or not launched yet, and how the application works. If it’s not open, check again every month or two, because states launch and reopen programs on their own schedules.
Then your utility
Search your electric or gas company’s name plus “rebates.” Utilities frequently pay for heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, insulation, smart thermostats and energy assessments, and some offer special electricity rates for heat pumps or electric vehicles. If you’re served by two utilities, check both. These rebates are often smaller than state programs, but they’re usually quicker to get and can make a modest project worthwhile.
Don’t skip the local level
Cities, counties and regional energy groups sometimes run their own rebates, low-interest loans or free assessments. Searching your city or county name with “energy rebate” usually turns them up. The DSIRE database of state and local incentives is a handy way to double-check what you’ve found, though always confirm the details on the program’s own site.
Work out your income tier
HEAR and many utility programs treat households differently depending on area median income, which HUD publishes by county and household size. Many state sites include a lookup tool. Gather proof of income and household size ahead of time, because programs usually ask for it.
Ask contractors what they handle
Many rebates are applied through approved or registered contractors, so ask each one which programs they work with, how the rebate shows up on the invoice and who submits the paperwork. If a contractor is vague about this, treat that as a warning sign. The best ones can usually tell you in a sentence or two what they’ve processed recently.
Check the fine print before you buy
Before any money changes hands, get answers to these:
- Do I need pre-approval before the work starts?
- Is there a deadline or funding cap, and is the money still there?
- Does the equipment have to be on an approved model list?
- Can this rebate be combined with others, or does one reduce the other?
- What documents do I have to keep: invoices, model numbers, photos, inspection reports?
Mistakes that cost people money
The most common one is buying first. Some programs flatly refuse rebates for equipment purchased before approval. Another is trusting outdated pages, since rebate information goes stale fast, so prefer the program’s own website and look for a date. People also ignore small rebates, even though a few hundred dollars from a utility can change the payback of a modest job. And be careful with anyone who says a rebate vanishes “today” or asks for a fee to “secure” it. Real programs don’t work that way.
Keep a simple rebate log
It sounds fussy, but a one-page note saves headaches. For each program, write the name, the link, whether it’s open, any deadline, what you need to apply, and who you spoke to. Imagine you’re planning a heat pump: the state program is waitlisted, your electric utility offers $500 toward it, and your city runs a free energy assessment. Without a log, it’s easy to miss that the assessment was the first step the utility wanted. With one, you can see at a glance what to do first and what can wait.
What if nothing is available?
It happens, especially while programs are still rolling out. In the meantime, the cheap stuff such as air sealing, attic insulation and a smart thermostat tends to pay back without any rebate. Keep notes on what you found and when, check again in a few months, and keep your quotes so you can compare them when a program opens.
Once you know what applies, you can estimate your net cost with our US calculator.