Guide
HVAC rebates & the federal 25C tax credit
What the federal credit covered, and how to find state & utility rebates in your area. This is not tax advice — confirm eligibility with your installer and a tax advisor.
Federal 25C credit (expired for new installs after 2025)
The federal 25C Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit let homeowners claim 30% of the cost of qualifying high-efficiency equipment, with category caps:
| Heat pumps (incl. ductless mini-splits) | up to $2,000 |
| Central air conditioners | up to $600 |
| Natural gas / propane / oil furnaces | up to $600 |
Central AC and furnaces share a $1,200 combined annual cap with other envelope improvements; heat pumps sit in a separate $2,000 annual cap.
Status: under the One Big Beautiful Bill (Pub. L. 119-21), the 25C credit applies only to property placed in service on or before December 31, 2025. Systems installed after that date are no longer eligible. If you installed a qualifying system in 2023–2025 you may still claim it on that year's return; 2025 claims require the manufacturer's qualified-manufacturer (QM) code. Read the federal credit details at ENERGY STAR / IRS →
Eligibility, in plain English
The credit was nonrefundable (it required federal tax liability) and applied to a home you use as a residence in the U.S. For ducted systems, the rated efficiency — and thus eligibility — depended on the equipment being installed as an AHRI-matched system (outdoor unit + coil + air handler), and meeting the CEE/ENERGY STAR efficiency tier. Because we usually don't know a specific model's certified rating, we can't say any one model "qualifies" — verify the AHRI match and tier with your installer.
State & utility rebates (still live)
Separate from the federal credit, many states and local utilities offer rebates on high-efficiency HVAC — and these often stack. Enter your ZIP to open the DSIRE incentive database filtered to your state: