We’ve all seen headlines promising thousands of dollars in Bay Area heat pump rebates, only to find the details confusing, outdated, or already “paused” and waitlisted. Programs like HEEHRA and TECH Clean California still show up in search results, but when we try to plan a real project, they often aren’t options anymore.
We install and replace heat pumps across the Bay Area every day, so we have to track what’s actually available right now, not last year. Below is a clear 2026 snapshot of heat pump rebates Bay Area homeowners can still use, with a special focus on San Jose and San Jose Clean Energy customers.
What Heat Pump Rebates Still Exist in 2026?
As of mid 2026, many of the big statewide and federal incentives we still see in articles are no longer available for new projects. If you’re planning a heat pump installation in San Jose, homeowners can still save money, but it starts with knowing what has closed.
HEEHRA, TECH Clean California, and the federal 25C tax credit were powerful programs while funds lasted. Today, their status looks very different.
- HEEHRA single family rebates are fully reserved. As of February 24, 2026, HEEHRA rebates for single family homes are fully reserved statewide. The program isn’t accepting new income verification applications, and unapproved reservations in Northern California are on a waitlist.
- TECH Clean California single family incentives are closed. TECH Clean California incentives for heat pump HVAC and heat pump water heaters in single family homes were fully reserved as of November 14, 2025. New reservations aren’t being accepted.
- The 25C tax credit has expired for new installs. The federal 25C Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit ended on December 31, 2025. If you installed in 2025, you may still claim it on your 2025 tax return, but it doesn’t apply to 2026 installations.
Older guides often talk about “stacking” HEEHRA, TECH, and 25C. For a new heat pump replacement San Jose homeowners are planning in 2026, that stack is no longer on the table. The good news is that local utility rebates, especially from San Jose Clean Energy, are still very much available.
The Main Rebate for San Jose: SJCE EcoHome
If your electricity comes from San Jose Clean Energy, the EcoHome Rebate program is now one of the primary ways to reduce the cost of a new heat pump in San Jose. SJCE is the City of San Jose’s not for profit electricity provider, serving more than 350,000 customer accounts, and EcoHome is built to support home electrification projects like replacing a gas furnace with a heat pump.
The program covers both heat pump HVAC and heat pump water heaters, but for most homeowners with an aging gas furnace, the biggest opportunity is the space heating and cooling rebate.
- Rebates focus on gas to electric replacement. To qualify for the main EcoHome heat pump HVAC rebate, the new system has to replace an existing gas powered appliance. Swapping an older heat pump or straight electric furnace for a new heat pump typically doesn’t qualify for the gas replacement rebate.
- You must be an SJCE account holder and own the property. The standard rebate is available to SJCE customers who both receive power from SJCE and own the home where the heat pump can be installed.
- CARE/FERA enrollment can unlock an extra $1,000. If your household is enrolled in the CARE or FERA income assistance programs, EcoHome may add roughly $1,000 on top of the standard heat pump rebate. Many San Jose homeowners don’t realize that simply being on CARE/FERA can significantly increase their incentives.
- New construction isn’t eligible. EcoHome is designed to help replace existing gas equipment, not fund brand new construction. For new builds or major additions, you’ll need to look at other financing or incentive pathways.
EcoHome applications have to be approved before any installation work starts. Once you’re approved, SJCE holds the reserved funds for 120 days, which is usually enough time to schedule the installation, complete the work, and submit final paperwork.
EcoHome incentives sit on top of your equipment choices. In practice, that means choosing a system with strong SEER2 and HSPF2 efficiency ratings and, ideally, ENERGY STAR certification, then letting the SJCE rebate help reduce the upfront cost.
In SVCE Territory? How FutureFit Works
Not every home in Santa Clara County is served by SJCE. If you live in a nearby city like Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Mountain View, or Milpitas, your electricity may come from Silicon Valley Clean Energy instead, and a different rebate program applies.
SVCE’s FutureFit program offers substantial support for gas furnace replacement with a modern heat pump, but its rules and service area are distinct.
- SVCE doesn’t serve San Jose proper. FutureFit rebates are for customers in SVCE territory, including cities such as Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Mountain View, and Milpitas. If your bill lists San Jose Clean Energy, you aren’t eligible for FutureFit and should look only at EcoHome and related options.
- FutureFit offers up to $2,500, plus $1,000 for CARE/FERA. For qualifying SVCE customers replacing a gas furnace with a heat pump HVAC system, FutureFit can provide a $2,500 rebate. CARE/FERA income qualified customers may receive an additional $1,000, similar to the bonus EcoHome offers. Eligible properties include single family homes, mobile or manufactured homes, accessory dwelling units, and multifamily buildings with four units or fewer, as long as they’re replacing existing equipment.
- New construction isn’t covered. Like SJCE, SVCE focuses on replacement projects over new construction.
SVCE also requires your rebate reservation to be approved before installation begins. If work starts or finishes before you have approval, you can forfeit the rebate, even if the equipment itself qualifies.
If you’re unsure whether your address is in SJCE or SVCE territory, checking your electricity bill is usually the fastest way to confirm. We also help homeowners double check this before we recommend any rebate path.
How to Stack the Incentives That Remain
With HEEHRA, TECH Clean California, and 25C out of play for new 2026 projects, “stacking” incentives looks different than it did a couple of years ago. For a typical heat pump installation near me in San Jose, the base layer is almost always SJCE EcoHome.
From there, you can sometimes add other programs that don’t overlap with the same funding sources.
- Start with your local utility rebate. In San Jose, that’s usually the SJCE EcoHome Rebate. In neighboring SVCE cities, it’s FutureFit. These programs sit at the core of your incentive stack and are often the first applications to submit.
- Look for instant discounts on equipment. Programs such as Golden State Rebates, administered under the California Public Utilities Commission, can provide point of sale discounts on qualifying high efficiency equipment for PG&E electric account holders. These come through participating distributors or retailers, so the discount may be applied when the contractor purchases your heat pump rather than through a check after installation.
- Understand mutual exclusivity rules. Even though TECH Clean California and HEEHRA are now effectively closed to new single family projects, their rules still matter if you already hold a reservation. A project can’t receive both a TECH incentive and a HEEHRA rebate, a rule that has been in effect since July 15, 2025. If you had a TECH reservation approved in the past, you can’t switch it to HEEHRA instead.
The total savings you can achieve in 2026 depends on your utility territory, income, and project details. For a standard San Jose homeowner with a gas furnace switching to a cold climate heat pump, the realistic stack typically uses EcoHome as the primary layer, possibly combined with a point of sale equipment discount.
Because each program has its own eligibility language, we often walk homeowners through scenarios that include equipment efficiency thresholds, area median income percentages, and CARE/FERA status so we can estimate savings before you commit to a system size or model.
The One Rule That Trips Up Most Homeowners
Across SJCE, SVCE, and most other incentive programs in California, one rule causes more people to miss out on heat pump rebates than anything else: you have to get rebate reservation approval before any installation work begins.
This is more than a “best practice.” It’s a hard cutoff for eligibility.
- Pre approval is required, not optional. For active programs like EcoHome and FutureFit, your reservation has to be submitted and approved before equipment is installed, removed, or permanently disconnected. If the work is already done when you apply, the project is ineligible, regardless of how efficient your new heat pump is.
- Emergency replacements are handled differently. There are narrow exceptions when a furnace fails in cold weather and waiting for approval would leave a home without heat. These emergency replacements have separate procedures, and homeowners must contact the utility program directly to document the emergency and understand what, if anything, can still be claimed.
- Income pre approval isn’t the same as a funded reservation. Many income qualified programs use a two step process: first, they verify that your household income, sometimes measured against area median income, meets the threshold. Second, they issue a project specific reservation for a set dollar amount. Passing income verification alone doesn’t guarantee that funds are available or reserved for your project.
Because of this, the safest path is to line up your contractor, finalize the scope and equipment details, submit rebate applications for reservation, and only then schedule the installation for dates that fall within your reservation window.
Make Rebates Part of a Smart Heat Pump Plan
Rebate rules can change quickly, and the gap between what online guides promise and what’s actually open in San Jose right now is larger than many homeowners realize. A practical way to avoid disappointment is to treat incentives as one part of a larger home electrification plan, not the starting point.
When we help Bay Area homeowners replace a gas furnace with a heat pump, we start with your home’s layout, existing electrical capacity, comfort goals, and budget, then match that to equipment that meets current SEER2, HSPF2, and ENERGY STAR guidelines. From there, we handle the timing details so that rebate reservations are in place before any work begins.
If you’re weighing a heat pump installation in San Jose or nearby and want to make the most of the incentives that are actually available today, we’re happy to walk through options, including SJCE EcoHome timing, possible equipment discounts, and how your CARE/FERA status may help. You can connect with us at Comfort Energy, Inc. or call (408) 560-4050 to talk through your project and get a free quote for your installation.