October 2026 Update
NYS Clean Heat does not pay one statewide flat rate. Incentives are set by each utility and are higher in Disadvantaged Communities. The Con Edison figures in the amount field come from its June 2, 2025 program manual; check your own utility's current manual for its rates.
Eligibility & requirements. NYS Clean Heat incentives are available to residential customers of the participating utilities. Equipment must be installed by an enrolled NYS Clean Heat participating contractor, selected and sized per Manual J calculations, and must appear on the applicable qualified product lists (for example, the NEEP cold-climate product list for air-source systems). Incentive categories and amounts vary by utility and dwelling type.
What you get. Per the program's 2026 residential materials, single-family rebates include $5,000 for a cold-climate air-source heat pump providing full-load heating, rising to $8,000 when an existing fossil-fuel system is decommissioned; $18,000 for a ground-source heat pump retrofit ($8,000 for new construction); $3,000 for partial-to-full-load heating; and $1,250 for heat pump domestic water heating. Smaller homes and apartments have separate rebate levels.
Deadlines. No fixed end date is published. Incentive levels are set per program year and can change, so confirm the current tables with a participating contractor.
How it works. The contractor enrolls in the program, selects eligible equipment based on the home's heating load, installs it, and submits the project through the NYS Clean Heat online portal. The rebate is paid to the contractor, who passes the savings to the customer.
Important notes. NYS Clean Heat is a contractor-driven program - homeowners access it through participating installers, not by applying directly for most categories. It pairs naturally with EmPower+ for income-eligible households, which can add funding on top of these rebates. Verify the current category tables, since amounts differ between single-family and multifamily dwellings.
Why the program runs through the contractor
NYS Clean Heat puts the application work on the installer rather than the homeowner. The record says the rebate is paid to the contractor, who passes the savings to the customer, and that most categories are accessed through participating installers rather than a direct homeowner application. The guardrails sit at the same point: the contractor must be enrolled in the program, the equipment must be selected and sized per Manual J calculations, and the equipment must appear on the applicable qualified product lists, such as the NEEP cold-climate product list for air-source systems. The practical effect is that the homeowner's main decision is the choice of contractor, because the enrollment, the sizing, the equipment list, and the portal submission all flow through that one party.
Who it is for
The program serves residential customers of the participating New York utilities. The 2026 figures in this record describe single-family homes: $5,000 for a cold-climate air-source heat pump doing full-load heating, and $18,000 for a ground-source heat pump retrofit. Smaller homes and apartments have separate rebate levels, per the record, so a multi-unit building or a small home should expect different tables. Income-eligible households are the ones that can add EmPower+ funding on top of these rebates, per the record's pairing note.
How claiming works, step by step
- Confirm your utility participates. NYS Clean Heat is administered across participating New York utilities, and the record says incentive categories and amounts vary by utility and dwelling type, so the first check is which utility serves your address.
- Pick an enrolled participating contractor. Equipment installed by anyone else does not qualify under the record: installation must be done by an enrolled NYS Clean Heat participating contractor.
- Get the load calculation and the equipment list. The record requires sizing per Manual J calculations and equipment on the applicable qualified product lists (for example, the NEEP cold-climate product list for air-source systems). Ask the contractor to show the sizing sheet and the list entry for your model.
- Decide on the fossil-fuel question. The record sets the single-family air-source rebate at $5,000 for full-load heating and $8,000 when an existing fossil-fuel system is decommissioned, so confirm in writing whether your project is scoped as a decommissioning job.
- Let the contractor submit the project. The contractor installs the equipment and submits the project through the NYS Clean Heat online portal. The rebate goes to the contractor, who passes the savings through to you, so confirm the net price in writing before work starts.
What records to keep
This record does not publish a document checklist, and this page will not invent one. The papers worth keeping follow from the mechanics above: the written net-price quote showing the rebate passed through, the equipment model numbers you can match against the qualified product list, the Manual J sizing the record requires, and whatever confirmation the contractor gives you of the portal submission. The EnergyBS home energy audit checklist explains what an assessment documents, which helps you read your own contractor's numbers.
Worked example (hypothetical)
The arithmetic below uses only the record's 2026 single-family rebate figures and a labelled hypothetical project price, so it is not read as a quote.
Take a hypothetical full-load cold-climate air-source heat pump installation priced at $20,000 before rebates. The $5,000 record rebate brings the net cost to $15,000; if the project is scoped with fossil-fuel system decommissioning, the $8,000 record rebate brings it to $12,000. The decommissioning difference is exactly the record's own gap: $8,000 minus $5,000 equals $3,000 of extra rebate tied to removing the fossil system.
The ground-source figures sit at a different scale. The record's $18,000 ground-source retrofit rebate is 3.6 times the $5,000 air-source full-load rebate ($18,000 / $5,000 = 3.6), and the new-construction ground-source rebate of $8,000 is less than half the retrofit figure. These ratios describe the record's relative valuation of the system types, not advice about which system to choose; the record's separate dwelling-type tables are the reason the record warns single-family figures do not transfer to smaller homes or apartments.
How it sits with other household support
EmPower+ is the one pairing this record names: it can add funding on top of the NYS Clean Heat rebates for income-eligible households (see the EmPower+ entry). The record does not name other stacking routes, and incentive categories vary by utility and dwelling type, so the participating contractor is the source for whether any additional program can apply to the same project. Within the program itself, the fossil-fuel decommissioning adder is the clearest example of funding designed to combine: the base air-source rebate plus the decommissioning step is one project, one application through the same contractor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I apply to NYS Clean Heat directly? For most categories, no: the record describes it as contractor-driven, with the contractor enrolling, selecting equipment, installing it, and submitting the project through the online portal. Your access point is the enrolled participating contractor.
Does the rebate check come to me? No. The record says the rebate is paid to the contractor, who passes the savings to the customer. Confirm the net price in writing so the pass-through is explicit in the quote.
Do smaller homes and apartments get these same amounts? No. The record gives the dollar figures for single-family homes and says smaller homes and apartments have separate rebate levels. Ask your contractor for the table matching your dwelling type.
Can the rebate amounts change? Yes. The record says no fixed end date is published and that incentive levels are set per program year and can change, which is why it advises confirming the current tables with a participating contractor.
Program details change - verify current rules on the official program page before applying.