Electrifying your home heating and cooling system with a heat pump is one of the most effective ways to heat and cool your house and reduce your overall carbon footprint. An ideal time to consider a heat pump is before you have an immediate need to replace your existing heating or cooling system or when you want to add air conditioning.

Adding heat pumps to your home offers numerous benefits including:

• They provide heating AND cooling

• They are less expensive to operate than fossil-fuel or electric resistive heating systems, especially when offsetting or replacing oil, propane or electric resistive systems

• They lower your carbon footprint through displacement of burning fossil fuels for home heating. Converting to heat pumps for home heating is the single most impactful way to reduce the carbon footprint of your home.

• They can improve the comfort of your home.

• One recent study showed that homes upgraded with heat pumps enjoy on average a $13,700 price premium when sold over homes that do not have heat pumps.  

• There are numerous financial incentives for installing heat pumps.

• Reduce fire, explosion and carbon monoxide hazards by removing fossil fuels from the home

There are two types of heat pumps: 

• Air source heat pumps. They can be ductless (also called mini-splits) or use a house’s duct system.  Learn more about air source heat pumps on our deeper dive page or here: Air-Source Heat Pumps – Clean Energy Lives Here (masscec.com).

• Ground source heat pumps, also known as geothermal. These are larger than air source systems and can be initially more costly but have a long lifespan and lower operational costs.  Learn more about ground source heat pumps on our deeper dive page or here: Ground-Source Heat Pumps – Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (masscec.com)

How do I know if heat pumps are right for my home?

Evaluating heat pump options can be difficult and requires an investment of time to understand the options and the economic, comfort and environmental tradeoffs associated with each. The optimal system for a home can depend on the existing system, what upgrades may have already occurred, and the personal preferences of the occupants. To aid Groton residents with these decisions, the Groton Sustainability Commission has recently started an Energy Coaching program.  Unaffiliated with any manufacturer or installer, coaches help homeowners evaluate the benefits and costs of heat pump systems, so that they can make the choice that best fulfills their needs, either as a total system replacement or a partial heating replacement.

There are various state, local and federal incentives for heat pumps. Which incentives you qualify for depends on several factors.

Federal tax credits may apply to ANY Groton resident:

1. Tax credits provided through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 cover 30% of the costs of air source heat pumps, up to $2000 per calendar year.  Note that tax credits only apply to units that meet certain efficiency standards, including an Energy Star cold climate heat pump rating. You can learn more about this tax credit and the standards here: Air Source Heat Pumps Tax Credit | ENERGY STAR

2. Tax credits provided by the IRA cover 30% of the cost of a ground source heat pump, with no cap. You can learn more about this tax credit here: Geothermal Heat Pumps Tax Credit | ENERGY STAR

3. Installing heat pumps may require an electrical panel upgrade. In this case, you may qualify for an IRA tax credit up to $600. You can learn more about this tax credit here: Electric Panel Upgrade Tax Credit | ENERGY STAR

4. Rewiring America has a tool to help you understand your eligibility for IRA tax credits, but for a final determination ask a tax professional. Note that there are annual limits to the energy efficiency tax credits, and some are not additive in a single year.  Developing a strategy to maximize energy efficiency incentives by planning upgrades over several years can help. Most IRA tax credits are available through 2032.

If you are a Groton resident who is NOT a National Grid gas customer, you may qualify for the $250 or $500 air-source heat pump rebate from GELD. The amount of the rebate depends on the efficiency of the unit you purchase. You can learn more about GELD’s efficiency standard requirements here: Groton Electric Light Dept. – GELD Rebate Program.  Note that there is a limit of one rebate per household.  

If you are a Groton resident who IS a National Grid gas customer, you may qualify for heat pump rebates and financing through Mass Save:

1. $10,000 for whole-home electrification with air-source heat pumps. This option will require proof of discontinuation of use of the existing fossil fuel system through a few different options.  

2. $1250/ton for partial-home electrification with air-source heat pumps. The amount of the rebate will depend on the size (tonnage) of the unit installed. This rebate is capped at $10,000.

3. $15,000 for whole-home electrification with ground-source heat pumps. 

4. $2000/ton for partial-home electrification with ground-source heat pumps. The amount of the rebate will depend on the size (tonnage) of the unit installed. This rebate is capped at $15,000.

5. Access to a 0% HEAT loan program for up to $50,000 for the installation of heat pumps (and other energy efficiency measures).

6. Households may be eligible for enhanced incentives based upon their annual income. Incentives subject to change.

7. Heat pump rebates through Mass Save require that the homeowner has completed a Mass Save energy assessment in the last two years and completed weatherization improvements. 

Want to go deeper?   Learn more about heat pumps on our Deeper Dive page, or from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center