If you priced a heat pump in 2024 or 2025, you probably heard about the 30% federal tax credit. That credit is gone. Congress ended Section 25C for any system placed in service after December 31, 2025, and plenty of websites still haven’t caught up.
So here’s the honest picture for 2027. Rebates still exist in Seattle and Burien, but which ones you get depends on two things: who sends your electric bill, and what’s heating your home right now.
Why Your Electric Bill Decides Your Heat Pump Rebate
This is the part that confuses almost everyone, and I get why. Seattle and Burien sit right next to Kent, Renton and the Eastside, but the rebate rules change the moment you cross into a different utility’s territory. Your zip code doesn’t decide it. Your electric account does.
So before you look at a single rebate amount, grab a recent electric bill and check the logo at the top.
Seattle and Burien Homes on Seattle City Light
Most homes in Seattle and Burien buy their electricity from Seattle City Light. City Light’s heat pump support mostly works through instant contractor discounts. When a participating contractor buys a qualifying high-efficiency heat pump, they get a discount they can pass straight into your bid. You don’t fill out a form after the fact. The savings show up as a lower number on the quote.
Two things to know. Do-it-yourself installs don’t qualify. And City Light offers separate support for income-qualified households through its HomeWise program, which can cover a heat pump for eligible homes with electric heat.
Here’s a wrinkle that trips people up. Many Seattle and Burien homes get electricity from City Light but natural gas from Puget Sound Energy. PSE’s big electric heat pump rebates are tied to being a PSE electric customer, so a gas bill from PSE doesn’t automatically open those doors.
PSE Electric Customers in Kent, Renton and the Eastside
If PSE sends your electric bill, you’re working with a different set of programs. PSE pays a $1,500 rebate when you replace electric resistance heat (baseboards, wall heaters, an electric furnace) with a qualifying air-source heat pump. Income-qualified households can receive $2,400 through PSE’s Efficiency Boost program.
One rule changed in 2026 and it matters a lot. Since April 2, 2026, the heat pump has to be installed by a PSE Trade Ally or Recommended Energy Professional for the rebate to count. Ask about that before you sign anything, not after.
What You’re Heating With Now Changes Everything
The second question is what you’re replacing. Rebate programs in our area are built to move homes off oil, gas and electric resistance heat. They’re much less generous when you’re swapping one heat pump for another.
Oil Heat in Seattle: The Clean Heat Instant Rebate
If you live in Seattle and still heat with oil, you’re in the best position of anyone reading this. The City’s Clean Heat Program offers a $2,000 instant rebate when you convert to a qualifying Mitsubishi Electric heat pump through a participating contractor. It comes off the price at installation. The program also requires the old oil tank to be decommissioned to Seattle Fire Department standards, so plan for that as part of the project.
Income-eligible Seattle households can get a no-cost conversion through the Office of Housing. The City has also offered bonus rebates for moderate-income households at times, so it’s worth asking what’s active when you get your quote.
Electric Baseboards, Wall Heaters and Electric Furnaces
This is where PSE customers come out ahead. The $1,500 conversion rebate (or $2,400 with Efficiency Boost) applies when electric resistance is your current primary heat. A few rules apply. You must be a single-family PSE electric customer, the new heat pump must be AHRI Certified, and ductless systems need to meet a minimum efficiency rating. If you already have a heat pump, or you installed one only for air conditioning, you’re not eligible for this one.
City Light customers with electric heat should ask about the contractor instant discount and, if income-eligible, HomeWise.
Gas Furnaces: The Trickiest Conversion to Fund
Honestly, gas-heated homes in Seattle and Burien have the thinnest rebate support right now. The instant contractor discount on efficient equipment still helps. But there’s no big flat rebate waiting for you the way there is for oil.
On the Eastside, it’s a different story. Energy Smart Eastside has offered incentives to residents of Bellevue, Issaquah, Kirkland, Mercer Island, Redmond and Sammamish who switch from fossil fuel heat to an electric heat pump, with some tiers tied to income and to Mitsubishi equipment. Program windows open and close, so check what’s current before you plan around it.
How to Stack What’s Left Without Losing Any of It
Losing the tax credit stung. But in my experience the bigger loss happens when people miss a rebate they actually qualified for because something was done in the wrong order.
Order Matters: Instant Discounts vs. Rebates You Claim Later
Instant discounts and instant rebates (City Light’s contractor discount, Clean Heat) come off at the point of sale. They only work if your contractor is set up to apply them. You can’t add them later.
Utility rebates like PSE’s are usually claimed after installation. They rely on paperwork: proof of your old heating system, the AHRI certificate for the new equipment, and an installer who qualifies under the program rules. Miss one piece and the rebate can stall for weeks or disappear entirely.
That’s why we confirm eligibility before quoting, not after installing. We look at your utility, your current heat source and your income tier if that’s relevant, then build the quote around what you actually qualify for. You can see the programs we work with on our rebates and incentives page.
What a Rebate-Ready Quote Should Show You
Here’s a quick way to tell if a contractor has actually done the rebate homework. Look at the quote itself.
A rebate-ready quote names the exact equipment model, not just “Mitsubishi heat pump” or “high-efficiency system”. It shows any instant discount or instant rebate as its own line, so you can see it coming off the price. It notes which utility programs apply to your home and which ones don’t, and why. And it tells you what paperwork you’ll need to keep after installation, like the AHRI certificate or proof of your old heating system.
If a quote just says “rebates available” in small print at the bottom, push back. That usually means nobody checked. And the person who finds out it didn’t qualify, months later, is you.
One more thing I’d ask about: timing. Some programs run on funding cycles and close when the money runs out for the year. If a program is close to its limit, a few weeks can matter. A contractor who works with these programs regularly will usually know when that’s happening.
When Financing Fills the Gap the Tax Credit Used to Cover
For a lot of families, that 30% credit was what made the numbers work. Without it, the gap has to close somewhere else. Some homeowners spread the remaining cost with financing options so the monthly payment sits alongside the lower energy bill instead of landing all at once.
It also helps to know what drives the total price in the first place. Our guide to HVAC installation costs in Seattle breaks down the factors that push a quote up or down, so you can tell which parts of a bid are negotiable and which aren’t.
And if a ductless system turns out to be the right fit, our ductless heat pump installation page explains how we size and place each indoor unit so the rebate equipment requirements and the comfort you actually feel line up.
Find Out Which Seattle Heat Pump Rebates Your Home Unlocks Before You Decide
Here’s what I’d want you to walk away with. The federal credit is gone, but the local money didn’t disappear with it. It just got more specific. An oil-heated home in Seattle, a baseboard-heated house in Renton and a gas-heated rambler in Burien are three different rebate stories, and a generic online calculator will get at least two of them wrong. Before you decide a heat pump is too expensive, find out which programs your address and your current heating system actually unlock. That one conversation can change the math more than any brand or model choice will.
Not sure which rebates apply to your home? Send us your address and current heating type through our free quote form or call 206-750-5042, and we’ll tell you exactly what you qualify for before you commit to anything.
