Pick your equipment and how far along you are. See which programs to check, in order, and the mistakes that void a claim.
$0federal HVAC tax credit, 2026§25C and §25D both ended for property placed in service after December 31, 2025 under Public Law 119-21. Read from irs.gov 2026-09-05. Utility, state and DOE-funded state programs are separate, and are where the money is now.
The short answer
There is no federal HVAC tax credit for a 2026 installation. §25C and §25D ended for property placed in service after December 31, 2025 (Public Law 119-21).
The money left is local: your electric utility, your gas utility and your State Energy Office. To keep it, apply before you install, hire an enrolled contractor, and make sure any contractor-claimed rebate shows on the invoice.
Which rebate programs apply to you?
Four questions. No ZIP code, no email and no dollar figures: those come from the program administrators.
—Federal position for this situation
—Where to go, in order
—What to have ready
—The traps that apply to you
—How eligibility is actually verified
What this assumed
—
A router, not a rebate database. It returns no dollar amounts because HyreHVAC holds no licensed incentive dataset. Federal position read from irs.gov on September 5, 2026. Program terms and funding windows change without notice.
Confirm every rule with the administrator on the day you apply. Not tax advice, and not an instruction to perform any HVAC work: refrigerant, gas and electrical work are licensed trades.
The deviation, stated plainly
Why does this page have no rebate table?
Every other page with this title shows you a grid of dollar amounts. This one shows you a route. That is a decision, and here is the reasoning behind it.
Source fact: The most complete public index of energy incentives in the United States is DSIRE, maintained by the NC Clean Energy Technology Center.
Retrieved 2026-09-05, its API page offers access as a subscription. It publishes no pricing, no license terms and no redistribution terms, and offers no open bulk download; inquiries route to an email address.
HyreHVAC analysis: That leaves exactly two ways to build a rebate table. License a dataset whose terms we cannot read, or scrape one and restate figures we cannot re-verify on any schedule.
The second is what most of the pages competing for this search have done, and it is why so many of them still list a federal credit that no longer exists. A rebate amount does not stay true.
Program budgets close mid-year, tiers get revised, and a utility can change its terms any week. A table of them starts decaying the day it publishes and gives no signal when it has.
HyreHVAC analysis: There is also a harder problem underneath the licensing one. Even a perfectly current table would answer the wrong question.
Almost nobody loses rebate money because they could not find out the amount.
They lose it because they installed before applying, or used a contractor who was not enrolled, or applied to the program that excluded the better one, or let the contractor claim a midstream discount that never appeared on the invoice.
Those are sequencing failures, and no amount of dollar figures prevents a single one of them.
The useful next step: So this tool routes you. It sends you to the administrators who publish their own current terms: your utility, your State Energy Office, the ENERGY STAR finder, and DSIRE on its own site.
The program with the tightest deadline comes first, and the traps come up front, because that is where the money goes.
HyreHVAC does not install, service or sell HVAC equipment, and holds no data on quotes, invoices or finished jobs: We hold no incentive dataset and receive no referral fee from any rebate program. That is also why this page can tell you plainly that in 2026 the federal number is zero.
If you find a page that promises to tell you your exact rebate from a ZIP code and an equipment type alone, check when it last verified the federal credit. That single line is a reliable freshness test for the whole page.
Read on September 5, 2026
Is there a federal HVAC tax credit in 2026? No
Two separate sections of the Internal Revenue Code covered residential HVAC. Both closed on the same date, and a great deal of sales material has not caught up. These are quotations from the IRS pages, not our summary of them.
Section
What it covered
What the IRS page says now
What that means for a 2026 installation
§25C: Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit
air-source heat pumps, central air conditioners, furnaces, heat pump water heaters, insulation, and a home energy audit
“The credit is allowed for qualifying property placed in service on or after Jan. 1, 2023, and before December 31, 2025.”
$0. There is no §25C credit for property placed in service in 2026.
§25D: Residential Clean Energy Credit
geothermal (ground-source) heat pumps, at 30% of cost with no dollar cap
“The credit is not available for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025.”
$0. This is the larger loss of the two for anyone who was quoted geothermal, because §25D was 30% of the whole project with no cap.
§25C in its final year
the same equipment, placed in service during 2025
“In 2025, for each item of qualifying property placed in service, no credit will be allowed unless the item was produced by a qualified manufacturer and the taxpayer reports the Qualified Manufacturer Identification Number (QMID) for the item on their tax return.”
If your system went in during 2025 the credit may still be claimable, but the QMID requirement means a manufacturer number has to be on the return. Ask a tax professional.
Both credits were terminated by Public Law 119-21. Quotations read from the IRS pages on 2026-09-05.
HyreHVAC is not a tax adviser and this is not tax advice. Tax law changes, and it changed here recently. Confirm the current position at irs.gov and with a tax professional before you put any credit into a purchase decision, in either direction.
What line should you look for on a 2026 HVAC proposal?
The federal change has a visible signature on paper, and finding it takes about ten seconds.
HyreHVAC analysis: Look at the savings or net-cost column of any HVAC proposal written in 2026.
If it contains a line reading "$2,000 federal tax credit", "30% federal credit", "federal incentive" or anything similar, that line is quoting a credit that ended for property placed in service after December 31, 2025.
On a heat pump proposal that is a $2,000 error in the direction that makes the purchase look better.
On a geothermal proposal, at 30% of project cost with no cap, it can be five figures.
HyreHVAC analysis: This is usually not dishonesty. Manufacturer sales collateral, contractor proposal templates and a very large amount of published HVAC content were all built during the years the credits existed, and none of it updates itself.
But the effect on your decision is the same whether the cause is deception or inertia: you are comparing a real price against a discount that will not arrive.
The useful next step: Ask the contractor to reissue the proposal with the federal line removed, and compare the bids again on the new numbers. Do it before you talk about rebates at all.
A utility rebate on a proposal that still shows a phantom credit is stacked on a number that was never real. If a bidder pushes back, the IRS pages are two links and they settle it.
State-level credits are a separate matter and some states run their own. Those are checked through your State Energy Office, not through the IRS.
In what order should you apply for HVAC rebates?
Rebate programs are not a list you work through at leisure. Several of them close permanently at a specific moment in your project, and the moment is usually earlier than people expect. This is the order that keeps the most doors open.
01
Before you sign, ask each bidder two questions
"Which rebate programs should this job qualify for?" and "Are you enrolled in each one?" Many programs pay only when the installer is on their participating list, however good the contractor is. Get the answer in writing before the contract.
02
Open your own utility’s rebate page
The utility that bills you, not a comparison site. Most remaining HVAC incentive money sits here. Look for "pre-approval" or "prior approval" and read that paragraph twice. Separate electric and gas utilities run separate programs, so check both.
03
Contact your State Energy Office
It runs state programs and the DOE Home Energy Rebates where launched. DOE’s status on 2026-09-05: “Home Energy Rebates are now available in select states. Additional details on active state, territory or Tribal rebate programs are coming soon.” Ask your office whether a program is open today.
04
File pre-approval applications, then wait
Filed is not approved. Some programs issue a reservation number that must exist before the equipment arrives. If the install is next week and approval takes three weeks, settle that now. This is where money is most often lost, silently.
05
Check the equipment in the AHRI Directory
Programs qualify equipment on a certified rating for the matched pair. Look up the outdoor unit, indoor coil and air handler or furnace together at ahridirectory.org. Keep the AHRI Reference Number: most applications ask for it.
06
Install, then check the invoice for the discount
If a program paid the distributor or contractor (midstream), the discount must show as its own line on the invoice. Without it you cannot prove you got it, or claim it yourself. Ask for it itemized before you pay the balance.
07
File the post-install claims within their window
These run from the invoice or in-service date, not the contract date. Windows of 60 or 90 days are common. Keep the itemized invoice, AHRI Reference Number, model numbers, contractor license number and permit together from day one.
This is a sequence for managing paperwork and deadlines. It is not an instruction to perform any part of an HVAC installation. Refrigerant, gas piping, flue and electrical work are licensed trades, and refrigerant work is federally regulated. None of it is homeowner work, whatever a rebate program would pay.
How do people lose HVAC rebate money?
In eight ways, and none is about the amount. Each is about sequence, eligibility or evidence, which is why a page that only lists amounts cannot help you avoid them.
Installed before applying
The most common and the most final. Programs that require pre-approval do not make exceptions for a homeowner who did not know, because the requirement exists precisely to ensure the incentive changed the decision rather than rewarding one already made. There is no appeal and no partial credit.
The contractor was not enrolled
Discovered after the work is done, when the claim is rejected. The contractor is not at fault unless they said otherwise. Enrollment is a business choice some good firms decline because of the paperwork. Ask before you sign, by name of program.
Someone else claimed the rebate on your job
Midstream programs pay the distributor or contractor, and the discount should reach you as a lower price. If it is not a line on your invoice, you have no proof it reached you, and the program counts it as spent on your address.
Two programs that cannot be stacked, and the wrong one applied to first
Programs commonly forbid stacking with a named other program, or cap the combined incentive at a share of project cost. Read the stacking clause of both before applying to either, because the first application can lock you out of the better one.
The funding window closed between the quote and the install
These are budget-limited programs on annual cycles. They close when the money runs out, which in a popular category can be months before the program year ends. Confirm the window is open on the day you apply, not the day you read about it.
Nobody checked the equipment pair
A rating belongs to a matched combination. An outdoor unit on its own does not carry a certified SEER2. A quote that names only a condenser model number has not yet told you what the system is rated at. Check before installation, not at the claim.
A federal credit was counted that no longer exists
Both §25C and §25D ended for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. A 2026 proposal carrying either is overstating the savings, and the geothermal case is the expensive one because §25D was 30% of the project with no cap.
Rebate and credit simply added together
A rebate that lowers what you paid generally lowers the cost you can count toward a tax credit. With the federal credits gone, this matters mostly for state credits. Ask a tax professional.
A program administrator will answer every one of these questions if you ask them directly. None of them will volunteer the answers, and a contractor’s summary is not a substitute for the program’s own terms.
What do rebate program terms mean?
Program documents are short and their terms are precise. Six words carry most of the eligibility, and misreading any of them costs the whole incentive.
Placed in service
The tax term for when the equipment is installed and ready for use, not when it was ordered, paid for, or delivered. Both federal credits are written against this date, which is why a system bought in December 2025 and installed in January 2026 falls on the wrong side of the line.
Pre-approval / prior approval
The program must receive, and in most cases approve, the application before work begins. Submitting is not the same as being approved, and the approval often carries a reservation number that has to appear on the final claim.
Midstream / instant discount
The incentive is paid to the distributor or contractor rather than to the customer, and is supposed to reach you as a lower price. Your protection is a visible line item on the invoice, because nothing else proves the discount was passed on.
Enrolled / participating contractor
A contractor the program has registered, trained or credentialed. Distinct from licensed, and distinct from good. Many programs will not pay a claim on work by a non-enrolled installer, however well the work was done.
AHRI Reference Number
The identifier of a specific certified combination in the AHRI Directory of Certified Product Performance.
A certified rating belongs to a specific combination of outdoor unit, indoor coil and, where present, air handler or furnace. Each certified combination carries its own AHRI Reference Number.
It is the document most rebate applications use to establish that the equipment qualifies.
Stacking
Claiming more than one incentive on the same project. Permitted by some programs, forbidden by others, and frequently capped at a percentage of project cost when it is permitted. The rule is in the program terms, never in the marketing.
Income-qualified
Eligibility set against area median income rather than against the equipment. The federally funded state rebate programs use this structure, which means two identical installations at neighboring addresses can qualify for different amounts, or for nothing.
Where a program’s own definition differs from these, the program’s definition governs. These are plain-language explanations of common usage, not quotations from any one program.
Where should you look for HVAC rebates?
Each of these is a primary source or an index maintained by one. None of them is a HyreHVAC dataset, and we take no fee from any of them.
Source
Who runs it
What it is good for
What it will not tell you
Your own electric and gas utility
The utility that bills you
The programs that actually bind your account, with their current terms, funding status and pre-approval rules. The highest-value stop and the first one.
Anything about the other utility’s program, or about state and federal money. Two utilities means two separate searches.
Your State Energy Office
The state, listed for every state, DC and five territories in the NASEO directory
State-run programs, state tax credits, and the federally funded DOE Home Energy Rebates where the state has launched one. Also the right place to ask what a renter may apply for.
Utility-specific terms. State offices do not administer utility programs and will not know their funding status.
ENERGY STAR Rebate Finder
US Environmental Protection Agency
A free ZIP-code lookup of rebates and offers on ENERGY STAR certified products. Useful as a catch-all for a program the first two did not name.
Programs on equipment that is not ENERGY STAR certified, and the eligibility fine print. The page as retrieved 2026-09-05 states no coverage or completeness guarantee.
DSIRE
NC Clean Energy Technology Center
The broadest public index of incentives in the country, browsable on their own site. Good for discovering that a program exists.
Whether it is open, funded and accepting applications today. Use it to find names, then verify each one with its administrator.
irs.gov
Internal Revenue Service
The only authority on the federal position, which in 2026 is that §25C and §25D are both closed for property placed in service after December 31, 2025.
Anything about state, utility or DOE-funded programs. Those are not tax credits and the IRS has no role in them.
All five retrieved and checked 2026-09-05.
The order in the table is the order to use them in. It is deliberate: the sources with the tightest deadlines and the most binding terms come first, and the indexes come after, because an index tells you a program exists but never tells you it is still open.
Can renters or landlords get HVAC rebates?
The split between who pays the bill and who owns the equipment is the reason a large share of rental housing never gets an efficiency upgrade. It also decides who may apply.
HyreHVAC analysis: Two different eligibility tests are usually in play at once. Utility rebates are generally paid to the account holder, which in a rental is often the tenant.
State and federally funded programs are generally tied to the property owner, because the measure attaches to the building.
So the person who benefits from a lower bill and the person who may authorize the work are frequently not the same person, and neither program is designed around that.
Source fact: The DOE Home Energy Rebates are administered by state and territory energy offices, and DOE directs residents to those offices for eligibility rather than publishing national rules. Where renter and multifamily provisions exist, that is where they live and where the answer has to come from.
The useful next step: If you rent, ask your State Energy Office what a tenant may apply for in your state before anyone else. It is a two-minute question with a clear answer, and it tells you whether the rest of this page is yours to act on or your landlord’s.
If you rent the property out, be aware that the pre-approval and enrolled-contractor rules bind you exactly as they would an owner-occupier, and that a tenant’s utility account may be the account a rebate has to be paid into.
Nothing here is legal advice about a tenancy. Whether a tenant may authorize work on a landlord’s equipment is a matter of the lease and of state law, not of the rebate program.
What can this rebate finder not do?
Stated in full, because the omissions are the design.
It returns no dollar figure, ever: Not an estimate, not a range, not a "typical" amount. We hold no licensed incentive dataset and will not restate one we cannot re-verify. If you need a number, it comes from the program administrator and it is the only number that counts.
It does not know your state, your utility or your ZIP code: It deliberately does not ask, because knowing them would not let us answer without the dataset we do not have. What it does instead is tell you which categories apply to your situation and which questions to put to each one.
It cannot tell you whether a program is open today: Funding windows close without notice and reopen on the new program year. No static page can track that, including this one.
It is not tax advice: The federal position on this page is quoted from irs.gov with the date it was read. Your own return, the basis interaction, the QMID requirement on 2025 property and any state credit are questions for a tax professional.
It is not an instruction to perform work: HVAC installation involves refrigerant, gas piping, flues and electrical connections.
Refrigerant handling is federally regulated under EPA Section 608, and gas and electrical work are licensed trades. This page helps you manage paperwork and deadlines around work performed by a qualified contractor. It is never a description of work to do yourself.
HyreHVAC does not install, service or sell HVAC equipment, and holds no data on quotes, invoices or finished jobs. Nothing here is a price we observed. That is also why these tools can tell you to keep the system you have.
Questions this calculator answers
Is the federal heat pump tax credit still available in 2026?
No. The §25C Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit ended for property placed in service after December 31, 2025, under Public Law 119-21. The IRS page says it applied to property placed in service “before December 31, 2025”. For a 2026 install the federal credit is $0. Read at irs.gov 2026-09-05.
Is the 30% federal credit for geothermal heat pumps still available?
No. Geothermal fell under §25D, the Residential Clean Energy Credit, which the IRS says “is not available for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025”. It paid 30% of cost with no cap, so on a geothermal quote the loss can reach five figures.
My system was installed in 2025. Can I still claim the credit?
Possibly, on your 2025 return. §25C covered property placed in service before December 31, 2025. For 2025 items the IRS also requires the Qualified Manufacturer Identification Number (QMID) on the return. HyreHVAC is not a tax adviser, so check with a tax professional.
Why does this tool not show my rebate amount?
Because we cannot source one honestly. The most complete US incentive index, DSIRE, is a paid subscription with no published license terms, and we will not copy data we cannot verify. And people rarely lose rebates over the amount. They lose them on order and eligibility, which this tool covers.
What is the most common way people lose an HVAC rebate?
Installing before applying. Many utility and state programs require approval before the equipment goes in, and there is no appeal afterwards. Look for “pre-approval” or “prior approval” on your utility’s program page before you sign a contract.
Does it matter which contractor I use for a rebate?
Yes, for many programs. They pay only when the installer is on their enrolled or participating list. Licensed and insured does not mean enrolled, and some good firms skip enrollment because of the paperwork. Ask each bidder, program by program, before you sign.
My contractor says they will handle the rebate. Is that fine?
It can be, with one check. Some rebates are paid to the distributor or contractor and passed on as a lower price. That discount must show as its own line on your invoice. If it does not, you cannot prove you got it or claim it yourself.
Can I combine a utility rebate and a state rebate on one job?
Sometimes. Programs often forbid stacking with a named program, or cap the combined incentive at a share of project cost. Read the stacking rules of both before applying to either, because applying to one first can lock you out of the better one.
What documents do HVAC rebate applications ask for?
Usually an itemized invoice with labor and equipment separated, every indoor and outdoor model number, the install date, the contractor’s license number and an AHRI Reference Number. Look the equipment pair up yourself at ahridirectory.org instead of trusting a rating on a quote.
Are the federally funded state rebate programs running?
In some states. DOE’s status line, read 2026-09-05: “Home Energy Rebates are now available in select states. Additional details on active state, territory or Tribal rebate programs are coming soon.” DOE sends residents to their State or Territory Energy Office, so that office has the only current answer. See our state rebate program status study.
I rent. Can I apply for HVAC rebates?
Ask your State Energy Office first. Utility rebates usually go to the account holder, often the tenant. State and federally funded programs usually go to the property owner. Whether you may approve work on a landlord’s equipment depends on the lease and state law.
Does HyreHVAC get paid if I use one of these programs?
No. We take no referral fee from any rebate program, utility or manufacturer, and we hold no incentive dataset. HyreHVAC does not install, sell or service HVAC equipment, which is why this page can say plainly that the federal credit is zero.
Sources and methodology
Figures dated September 5, 2026. Last reviewed .
Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit (Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-09-05. Quoted directly: “The credit is allowed for qualifying property placed in service on or after Jan. 1, 2023, and before December 31, 2025.” The same page states the 2025 qualified-manufacturer and QMID reporting requirement. §25C was terminated by Public Law 119-21.)
Residential Clean Energy Credit (Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-09-05. Quoted directly: “The credit is not available for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025.” This is the section that covered geothermal heat pumps at 30% of cost with no dollar cap.)
Home Energy Rebates Programs (US Department of Energy, Office of State and Community Energy Programs, retrieved 2026-09-05. Status quoted directly: “Home Energy Rebates are now available in select states. Additional details on active state, territory or Tribal rebate programs are coming soon.” DOE directs residents to their State or Territory Energy Office.)
State and Territory Energy Offices (National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), retrieved 2026-09-05. Directory of energy offices for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and five US territories. Used as the routing destination for state-administered and DOE-funded programs.)
ENERGY STAR Rebate Finder (US Environmental Protection Agency, retrieved 2026-09-05. A free ZIP-code lookup of offers on ENERGY STAR certified products. The page stated no source, update frequency or completeness guarantee, so it is used here as a catch-all, not an authority.)
DSIRE API (NC Clean Energy Technology Center, NC State University, retrieved 2026-09-05. Access offered as a subscription. No pricing, license or redistribution terms published, and no open bulk download. This is the reason this page publishes no incentive table and links to DSIRE rather than reproducing it.)
How to use the AHRI directory (Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute, retrieved 2026-09-05. The AHRI page returned 403 to automated retrieval on that date. The matched-system rule is taken from 10 CFR 430.32(c)(6)(ii) and 10 CFR 429.16, which we read directly. AHRI material describes it the same way.)
AHRI Directory of Certified Product Performance (Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute, retrieved 2026-09-05. The directory itself, named here as the place equipment eligibility for a rebate program is actually verified. A certified rating belongs to a matched combination, each of which carries its own AHRI Reference Number.)
Related
Quote comparisonThe AHRI Reference Number a rebate application wants is the same one that tells you whether a bid is real.
HVAC replacement costRebuild the comparison with the phantom federal credit removed.
Heat pump vs furnaceRunning cost from your own two rates, now that the credit no longer tips it.
Repair or replaceWorth rerunning: a lost federal credit weakens the case for replacing early.
State rebate program statusWhether a door exists in your state at all, checked against administrator sources.
HVAC licensing by stateLicensed and enrolled are different things. This covers the first one.