Rebates and financing, and the order they have to happen in.
Most of the money available for heat pumps in Massachusetts and New Hampshire comes through utility programs. It is real money, but it has conditions, and several of them have to be met before any work starts. This page sets out what exists, what each program asks for, and where applications usually go wrong.
Program terms and amounts change each year.
The order of things
Massachusetts: Mass Save
Mass Save is funded through the energy efficiency charge on Massachusetts utility bills and run by the utilities that sponsor it. Eligibility depends on who supplies your electricity or heating fuel, which system the heat pumps will replace, and in some tiers on household income.
| Incentive | What it covers | What it requires | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole-home heat pump | Heat pumps serving as the heating system for the entire house. | Qualified equipment; a system sized to the full heating load; the existing system decommissioned or retained under current program rules; installation by a participating contractor. | Ask us |
| Partial-home heat pump | Heat pumps serving part of the house, with the existing system kept in service. | Qualified equipment; integrated controls that hand heating to the existing system below a set outdoor temperature. | Ask us |
| Moderate-income enhanced rebate | Higher rebates on the tiers above. | Household income within the program’s moderate-income range, verified before work begins. | Ask us |
| Income-eligible programs | Heat pumps and weatherization at reduced or no cost. | Household income within the program’s income-eligible range; delivered through the local community action agency rather than a private contractor quote. | Ask us |
| Weatherization | Air sealing and insulation identified in a Home Energy Assessment. | A no-cost Home Energy Assessment first; work completed by a program insulation contractor. | Ask us |
| 0% HEAT Loan | Financing for the balance after rebates. | Qualifying measures; approval by a participating lender before work begins. | Ask us |
Municipal light plant towns
A number of Massachusetts towns buy their electricity from a municipal light plant rather than from National Grid or Eversource. Mass Save is funded by the investor-owned utilities, so customers of a municipal light plant are generally not eligible for its electric heat pump rebates, though a household that heats with gas from a sponsoring gas utility may be.
Many municipal light plants run heat pump rebate programs of their own, with their own amounts and rules. If your electric bill comes from the town, tell us at the start; the paperwork is different, and so is the money.
New Hampshire: NHSaves
NHSaves is the program run by New Hampshire’s electric and gas utilities. Its heat pump incentives are generally smaller than Mass Save’s and structured differently, so a system that makes financial sense in Methuen may be priced differently a few miles north in Salem.
| Incentive | What it covers | What it requires | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heat pump rebate | Qualified air source heat pumps and mini-splits. | Qualified equipment; an active account with a participating New Hampshire utility. | Ask us |
| Home Energy Assistance | Weatherization and heating improvements for income-qualified households. | Income qualification through the regional community action agency. | Ask us |
| Weatherization | Air sealing and insulation. | An energy assessment through the program. | Ask us |
Federal tax credit
The federal Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit, which covered part of the cost of qualifying heat pumps, ended for equipment placed in service after December 31, 2025. Heat pumps installed now do not qualify for it. If you installed a heat pump during 2025 and have not yet filed for that year, ask your tax preparer.
Paperwork
A rebate application is only as good as the documents behind it. Here is who provides what.
- From us
- An itemized invoice naming every indoor and outdoor unit by model number; the AHRI certificate showing the matched system’s rated performance; the room-by-room load calculation where the program asks for sizing documentation; and, for partial-home systems, the integrated control model and its switchover setting.
- From you
- Your electric and heating fuel account numbers, which are on the first page of each bill; your signature on the application; and, for income-based tiers, the income documentation the program asks for.
Where rebates go wrong
Most rejected applications fail on something that could have been settled before the work began.
- An unlisted equipment pairing
- Qualification applies to a specific indoor and outdoor unit combination. An outdoor unit on the list, paired with an indoor unit that was never tested with it, may not qualify.
- No integrated controls on a partial-home system
- If the existing boiler or furnace stays, the program expects controls that keep the heat pumps running first. Without them, the partial-home rebate is at risk.
- Work started before a loan was approved
- The HEAT Loan has to be in place before installation. It cannot be arranged afterward to cover work already done.
- A missed deadline
- Applications that arrive after the submission window closes are typically refused regardless of merit.
- An account in the wrong name
- Rebates are tied to the utility account holder. If the account is in a former owner’s or a relative’s name, fix it with the utility first.
We check eligibility before we quote
At the assessment we look at your bills and your existing system and tell you which programs appear to apply, what each will require, and what order to do things in. The written quote shows the price before and after the rebates you appear to qualify for.