Heat Pumps Cause Pregnancy!!

Today, more than ever, you can’t believe every headline you read. Almost as absurd as the idea of heat pumps causing pregnancy are the online claims from special interest groups about the prices of these appliances. Despite their deception, the truth is that installing a heat pump can cost you about the same as its gas alternative while providing a less toxic home and saving you hundreds of dollars a year in operational costs. There are numerous rebates available, some of which expire at the end of this year due to policy changes in Washington. We encourage you to explore your options now and act before you miss out on the best rebates.

The rebate landscape varies depending upon which rebate allocations are used up or not, as well as city by city. If you are in Mountain View or Palo Alto, for example, you can get additional rebates for certain appliances, like heat pump water heaters, up to an additional $2,000! Almost all the rebates are ‘stackable’, meaning you can add them all up for even better savings. Certain income-qualifying households get even more rebates, literally making the new electric appliance and related electrical improvements free.

Of course, there are outlier circumstances, like if the house configuration does not allow the change to certain electric appliances until technology evolves. A current pro-gas campaign will try to scare you by grabbing onto these outliers and using numbers for full home electrification rather than a simple heat pump installation. They claim most households will have to pay $50,000 to $100,000 to upgrade to a heat pump. Those are simply not defensible claims.

In most cases, the math with the rebates makes great sense to act today, even if your gas appliance is not at end of life. All electric homes are the future, and the rebates are here now.

Given the changing rebate landscape, we recommend you consult a contractor who manages the rebate process for you. The best places to see the qualifying rebates and find these contractors are:

• The Switch Is On - incentives in California and a list of qualified contractors.

• Silicon Valley Clean Energy – They have a ‘help desk’ you can call/email/chat with to help direct you in addition to a rich online description of rebates they offer.

You can also reference the contractors that GreenTown vetted who exhibited at our Living Electric Fair in May in Los Altos.

Federal Tax Credit: Save even more with a 30% tax credit, but only through December 2025. Here's what you need to know.