Tax incentives, rebates available for heat pump installations

Current tax incentives for making energy efficient home improvements, along with rebates offered by Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative, make this an ideal time to consider installing a heat pump to heat and cool your home or business.
The EPA suggests considering replacing your air conditioner or heat pump if it’s more than 12 years old, and your furnace or boiler if it’s more than 15 years old. New units – especially Energy Star qualified models – have much higher efficiency levels to help lower your utility bills, and are more reliable than older systems. Current tax credits are available for up to $1,500 on new, high-efficiency systems;
Even without the current financial incentives, heat pumps are the best way to heat and cool a home due to their high efficiency, which can lead to considerable savings on utility bills.
Air source heat pumps placed in service from January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2010 qualify for a tax credit of 30 percent of their cost, up to $1,500. Qualifying split system heat pumps must have an HSPF of at least 8.5, EER of 12.5 or better and SEER of 15 or greater to qualify for the tax credit. Package systems must have an HSPF of 8 or better, an EER of 12 or better, and SEER of at least 14. Those specifications are not identical to Energy Star labels on air source heat pumps, so not all Energy Star appliances will qualify for this tax credit.
Tax credits for geothermal heat pumps are even better. Closed loop systems must have an EER of at least 14.1 and a COP of at least 3.3. Open loop geothermal heat pumps must have an EER of 16.2 and a COP of at least 3.6. There is no $1,500 cap on the tax credit for geothermal installations, so homeowners can receive the full 30 percent of the installed cost as a tax credit.
Heartland REC also offers financial incentives to install an energy efficient heat pump.
Air source heat pumps must be a minimum size of two tons and meet or exceed current Energy Star standards. Rebate amounts for air-source heat pumps are $150 per ton for a 14.5 SEER unit, $200 per ton for a 15.5 SEER unit, and $250 per ton for a 16.5 SEER unit.
Geothermal heat pumps must be at least two tons and meet or exceed current Energy Star standards. Rebates amounts are $150 per half ton.

http://www.heartland-rec.com/appliance_rebates.aspx
http://www.energystar.gov/taxcredits

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