There is never a dull moment with heat pump rebates here in Colorado, and that is a good thing! It is June 2026, we are rolling into a very busy summer, and we have installed dozens of heat pumps since our last update.
A lot has changed, so I wanted to give you the latest on where every major rebate stands right now.
My goal here is to share the latest on the HEAR program, your Xcel Energy rebates, the RENU loan program, Boulder and local city rebates, and the Colorado state tax credit and more — so you do not leave money on the table.
We will start with the latest on HEAR, and if you prefer to watch or listen, check out our YouTube video on these rebates –
HEAR Rebates — Where Things Stand
HEAR (Home Energy Rebates, from the Colorado Energy Office) is the one most people ask about. It offered up to $8,000 for a heat pump, plus up to $2,500 for accompanying electrical wiring — and it went fast.
The funds were split into regions. The Denver Metro area is essentially zone one, and zone two is everywhere else — the mountains, the plains, and the rest of the state.
As of April 28, 2026, the zone one funds are fully allocated. If you are a single-family home, apartment, or condo around Denver and did not get your application in before then, those funds are spoken for.
Still some good news: Zone 2 (outside Denver Metro) and the multifamily program may still have funds available. If you are a multifamily owner, investor, or property manager, it is worth checking. The program officially runs through 2031, so this story is not over.
For more on this, check out our more in-depth HEAR article here, which includes a link to the funding dashboard created by the Colorado Energy Office for the latest on funding different zones/types of buildings.
If you applied before the cutoff and are waiting, hang in there. The HEAR office saw such an influx of applications that approvals are taking roughly six to eight weeks. There are a lot of steps — homeowner qualification, contractor project submission, funding approval, then installation — and we expect installations to run through August, and likely into September or October, as the queue clears.
But the great news is we are seeing the queue move, and homeowners are indeed getting approved if they applied before then. We are installing multiple HEAR project heat pumps weekly right now.
When it all comes together, it was/is worth it. Done in the right order, this program can put $10,000 or more back toward upgrades a homeowner might not otherwise be able to afford — which was a big part of the original intent behind the Inflation Reduction Act.
One honest heads-up: because the household cap is around $14,000 and multiple contractors draw from it in order, the final number can shift depending on who files first. Communication is everything here — staying on top of the numbers with your contractor keeps surprises to a minimum.
If you’re curious on this program or on the status of your own heat pump rebate, please contact us here.
Xcel Energy Rebates — Steady and Stackable
Good news on Xcel: there is much less drama to report, in the best way. The heat pump rebates tripled on January 1, 2025, and have stayed remarkably consistent since. They are still $2,250 per ton for the best cold climate-rated heat pumps. You can check out our more detailed Xcel Rebates article here too.
And don’t forget about the additional available Xcel Whole Home Efficiency rebates too if you do multiple energy efficiency projects.
The one thing to know is timing — with so many heat pumps going in, rebate checks now take roughly eight to ten weeks instead of three or four. Most of us contractors take on that rebate and discount it up front, so for many homeowners this is invisible.
Rebates run about $2,250 per ton at 5 Degree Fahrenheit performance for the heat pump. For a single-family home that often lands somewhere in the $6,000–$8,000 range, though every home is different — you never want to oversize, so we let the Manual J and Manual S calculations tell us the right equipment.
The biggest rebates are aimed at replacing natural gas, so having Xcel for gas is an required qualifier on this one.
Stackable Rebates
Here is where it gets fun — these rebates stack. Heat pump water heaters still pay around $2,250 (Energy Star, replacing a gas unit if you have Xcel for gas). Do the three qualifying upgrades and follow the Whole Home Efficiency pathway and you earn bonus rebates of roughly 25% on top of the standard amounts.
And there is a $600 bonus if you air seal and insulate before the heat pump HVAC goes in — which also means a tighter building envelope and lower bills down the road.
Roughly what does a fully stacked project look like? Here is a conservative picture:
- Air sealing + insulation: a few thousand, on a sliding scale
- Heat pump HVAC (≈3 ton): roughly $6,000–$7,000 depending on the equipment
- Heat pump water heater: about $2,250
- Whole Home Efficiency bonus: ≈25% on top of standard rebates
- Air-seal/insulate first bonus: $600 (if done before HVAC)
- Colorado State Heat Pump HVAC Tax Credit (discounted by your contractor): $1,000
For a standard ~2,500 sq ft home doing all four categories, the rebates can add up to a meaningful five-figure total — but I keep these conservative on purpose. Insulation in particular is a sliding scale (you earn more the lower your starting R-value), so every home is different and these are estimates, not guarantees.
The CCEF RENU Loan Program
The Colorado Clean Energy Fund’s RENU program is a state-supported loan program that partners with local credit unions like Westerra and Elevations. You can get a personal loan specific to energy efficiency projects — up to 15 years for heat pumps and water heaters (and longer for solar) — and roll multiple projects into one loan.
What I love most is the transparency — these are straightforward credit-union rates with no hidden dealer fees baked into your heat pump/project price, unlike some of the “zero down, 0%” offers where someone is quietly paying for that rate, usually you.
Boulder County Example & Local City Rebates
Boulder County’s EnergySmart program still offers up to $2,000 for a heat pump, now income-qualified based on Area Median Income (AMI). The menu has gotten smaller as funds are allocated, but do not count yourself out — we have seen plenty of homeowners who assumed they would not qualify end up qualifying. If you are on the fence, it is worth a look.
Smaller cities run their own rebates too.
The City of Golden, for example, offers up to $2,000 per unit for heat pumps plus solid rebates for panel upgrades and electrical wiring — we are working on a triplex there now. My advice: check your city and county websites, since these stack on the others. Or just reach out to us — if we do not know it, we know where to find it.
Colorado State Heat Pump Tax Credit
The state heat pump tax credit is still in play for all of 2026, though it was lowered 50% from 2025 to $1,000 per home for heat pump HVAC.
At least 33% must be discounted up front to the homeowner; we discount the full amount up front to keep it simple.
The main rules: the heat pump must serve the whole home — a ducted system for the whole house, or a mini-split reaching all the living areas — and it must be a cold climate heat pump that handles at least 80% of the year’s heating.
The state has calculators for this and so do we.
Wrapping It Up
The short version: HEAR’s zone one funds around Denver are gone for now, but Zone 2 and multifamily may still qualify.
Xcel rebates are steady, generous, and stackable. The RENU loan keeps financing honest, and Boulder and local cities still have income-qualified dollars.
And lastly (for the Denver Metro area anyway), the state tax credit is good through 2026.
The landscape has changed a lot since late last year — that is exactly why we keep a ledger and stay on top of it every single day.
If you have any questions on the rebates, just reach out! Call us at 303-525-HEAT, or email in from our contact page.
We are happy to help, and we love chatting through these with you. Thanks so much for reading!
