For an air source heat pump installed in 2026, Mass Save pays $2,650 per ton up to $8,500 for a whole-home system, $1,125 per ton up to $8,500 for a partial-home system, and $250 per ton up to $2,500 for a basic rebate. Households that qualify by income can get up to $16,000, or a heat pump at up to no cost through Turnkey Services.
Each tier hangs on one big condition. Whole-home requires the heat pump to be your only heating system, in a sufficiently weatherized house. Partial-home requires an integrated control wherever oil, propane or gas heat stays in use. Basic is for projects that don't displace fossil fuel or electric resistance heat at all. Every tier also requires an installer in the Mass Save Heat Pump Installer Network, so confirm that with any contractor before you sign. The 2026 amounts cover equipment installed by December 31, 2026; on January 1, 2027, the whole-home and partial-home rates drop.
Whole-home, partial-home and basic: what each one requires
Whole-home: $2,650 per ton, up to $8,500
The heat pump has to be the sole source of heating and cooling, so the old system is removed or disconnected, for example with its fuel line disconnected and capped. One exception is written into the rules: a boiler can stay to make domestic hot water, through an indirect tank or a combination boiler, as long as its space heating is disabled. The system must be sized to meet 90 to 120 percent of the home's total heating load at the outdoor design temperature, per an ACCA Manual J calculation. The home must be occupied full time through the heating season and sufficiently weatherized before the heat pump goes in. You and the installer both sign a Whole-Home Heat Pump Verification Form, and the limit is one whole-home rebate per account.
Homes replacing oil, propane or electric resistance heat apply through their electric account with a Mass Save sponsor, and homes replacing natural gas heat through their gas account. A whole-home project that misses the weatherization requirement may still qualify at partial-home amounts. If you're coming off oil, our guide to an oil to heat pump conversion covers the hot water and tank questions that come with it.
Partial-home: $1,125 per ton, up to $8,500
Here you keep the existing boiler or furnace as a supplement. Any heating zone where oil, propane or natural gas will stay in use needs an integrated control from Mass Save's Integrated Control Qualified Product List, set to switch over at or below a maximum outdoor temperature: 30°F for oil and natural gas, 5°F for propane. If the heat pump fully takes over a zone, no control is needed there, but the old heat in that zone has to be removed or disconnected by the installer and noted on the invoice.
Two $500 bonuses apply to partial-home projects only: a sizing bonus when the heat pumps are sized to meet 90 to 120 percent of the whole home's heating load (the load calculation goes in with the application), and a weatherization bonus when you complete a Home Energy Assessment and the recommended weatherization within one year before or six months after the installation. Heat pumps in new additions or previously unconditioned spaces don't qualify for partial-home.
Basic: $250 per ton, up to $2,500
Basic covers new equipment that doesn't displace anything: replacing an existing central air conditioner or heat pump (a heat pump replacing a heat pump qualifies only for basic), conditioning a new addition, or a home that isn't occupied in winter. There are no bonuses, and it is available only to customers of a Mass Save electric sponsor. Heat pumps added to an unconditioned space during a whole-home or partial-home project can earn the basic rebate too, with the combined total capped at $8,500 per account.
How per-ton and the cap interact: a worked example
Mass Save counts tons by taking each system's AHRI-rated cooling capacity and dividing by 12,000 BTU per hour. Take a hypothetical house heated with oil, with a 36,000 BTU ducted heat pump (3 tons) for the main floors and a 12,000 BTU single-zone mini split (1 ton) for a bedroom over the garage: 4 tons in total.
- Whole-home, installed in 2026: 4 tons at $2,650 is $10,600, which the cap brings down to $8,500.
- Whole-home, installed in 2027: 4 tons at $2,350 is $9,400, capped at $7,500.
- Partial-home, installed in 2026: 4 tons at $1,125 is $4,500, plus up to $1,000 in bonuses if the project qualifies.
- Partial-home, installed in 2027: 4 tons at $1,000 is $4,000.
For larger systems, the cap does most of the work. At 2026 rates, a whole-home project reaches the $8,500 ceiling at about 3.2 tons, so extra tonnage beyond that adds nothing, one more reason to size the system to the heat load calculation and nothing else. Smaller projects feel the per-ton rate directly: a hypothetical 2-ton whole-home system earns $5,300 in 2026 and $4,700 in 2027. The rebate also can't exceed the total installation cost.
Income-based enhanced rebates and Turnkey Services
Mass Save runs two income-based tracks. Households in the lower range qualify for the Income Eligible Program, which provides no-cost insulation, air sealing and certain appliances and heating systems; households above that range, up to a higher limit, qualify for enhanced incentives. For the 2026 to 2027 heating season, Mass Save's table puts a four-person household in the income-eligible range at $103,049 or less and in the enhanced range from $103,050 to $137,399. Limits change with household size and the page asks for your zip code, so confirm the figures for your area there or with Mass Save's online income verification tool.
With enhanced incentives, an air source heat pump rebate can reach $16,000 for a whole-home or partial-home project. The existing heat must be oil, propane or electric resistance, the home must be in a building with one to four units, and every weatherization measure recommended in your Home Energy Assessment must be finished before you apply (at no cost for income-verified customers). The installer still has to be in the Heat Pump Installer Network, and there is a separate enhanced rebate form.
Turnkey Services is the fully managed version. You start with a no-cost Home Energy Assessment, tell the Energy Specialist you may qualify, and begin income verification. Mass Save then manages the project, which can include no-cost weatherization, an air source heat pump at up to no cost if you heat with electricity, oil or propane, and up to 100 percent of an electrical panel upgrade the heat pump requires. Turnkey offers are subject to cost-effectiveness screening, so not every home gets every measure.
The requirements people trip on
These are the conditions most worth checking before the work is scheduled, not after.
- The installer network. The installer must participate in the Mass Save Heat Pump Installer Network, and the rebate form asks for the company's network ID. Ask any contractor directly, and check Mass Save's Find a Heat Pump Installer search, before you sign.
- Qualified equipment. The system must meet ENERGY STAR Cold Climate criteria and appear on the Mass Save Heat Pump Qualified Products List. Check the exact outdoor and indoor combination proposed; the form asks for its AHRI reference number.
- Weatherization for whole-home. You can show it three ways: the home was built in 2000 or later, a Home Energy Assessment recommended less than $1,000 of weatherization, or the weatherization recommended in or after 2013 has been completed. The assessment itself is free.
- Integrated controls for partial-home. The model must be on the qualified list and the switchover set at or below the cap. The setting goes on the form and can be checked at a post-installation inspection.
- Serial numbers. Since October 1, 2026, every application needs a clear photo of each outdoor unit's nameplate showing the serial number. Take it before the installer leaves.
- Paperwork and dates. An invoice with model numbers, install date, address and total cost, plus proof of payment and the signed whole-home form if it applies. Installation between January 1 and December 31, 2026; application received by February 28, 2027.
- Stacking. The rebate can't be combined with another Mass Save or utility offer for the same equipment, though the HEAT Loan can be used alongside it.
Install in 2026 or wait for 2027?
The January 1, 2027 change is real but modest in dollars. For a whole-home project at the cap, the difference is $1,000. For a hypothetical 2-ton whole-home system it is $600, and for a 3-ton partial-home system $375. The date that counts is installation, not the signed contract, and a December install has to fit around short days, snow and any electrical service upgrade that depends on the utility's schedule.
None of those differences is worth a rushed design. Skipping the load calculation or the weatherization to beat a deadline can cost more over the life of the system than the rebate difference, and it can even shrink the rebate, because a whole-home project that misses the weatherization requirement may drop to partial-home amounts. On a hypothetical 3-ton system, whole-home in 2027 pays $7,050, while partial-home in 2026 pays $3,375 plus any bonuses. If your current system is failing, the timing decides itself. If it isn't, plan the project properly and let the date land where it lands.
The HEAT Loan
Mass Save's HEAT Loan offers 0 percent financing up to $25,000 for qualifying upgrades, heat pumps included, and that maximum applies across everything you finance over time. The applicant must be the homeowner, and a Home Energy Assessment is mandatory before financing a whole-home heat pump or a partial-home project that claims the bonuses. You apply with a participating contractor's signed proposal, then take the authorization form to a participating lender, who issues a check payable to you and the contractor. Apply before the installation.
No federal tax credit for 2026 installs
Older articles still mention a federal credit of up to $2,000 for heat pumps. That was the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit (Section 25C), and the IRS states it can't be claimed for property placed in service after December 31, 2025, so a heat pump installed in 2026 gets no federal credit.
Concord, Hudson and Wellesley: check your light plant first
Concord, Hudson and Wellesley get their electricity from municipal light plants (Concord Municipal Light Plant, Hudson Light and Power and the Wellesley Municipal Light Plant), so Mass Save's electric heat pump rebates don't apply there. Each light plant runs its own program, and our town pages for Concord, Hudson and Wellesley link to each one's current rebate page.
One exception is worth knowing. Mass Save's rebate form says customers in municipal electric territories are eligible for its heat pump rebates if they heat with natural gas from a Mass Save sponsor, applying through the gas account, and the HEAT Loan follows the same rule. Mass Save's terms don't allow combining its rebate with another utility's offer for the same equipment, so compare the two programs before choosing.
How the process usually goes
- Confirm which Mass Save sponsor serves your account and whether you qualify by income. Mass Save's online portal also has a pre-verification form for checking a project before you start.
- Book a no-cost Home Energy Assessment and complete the recommended air sealing and insulation, especially for a whole-home or enhanced rebate.
- Get proposals from two or three network installers, as Mass Save recommends, each based on a heat load calculation and naming qualified equipment. Our guide to comparing HVAC quotes covers what to look for.
- If you're financing, apply for the HEAT Loan before the work starts.
- After installation, gather the invoice details, the nameplate photos and the signed whole-home form if it applies.
- Apply online or by mail by February 28, 2027. You can name the installer as the rebate payee. Some projects are picked at random for an inspection, which must happen before payment, and Mass Save asks you to allow about eight weeks.
If you're planning a heat pump and want a design built around your home's heat load, with the price up front, start with our heat pump installation page. Whoever you hire, if the rebate matters to you, confirm their installer network status before you sign.
Sources: Mass Save air source heat pump rebates; Mass Save 2026 heat pump rebate form; Mass Save whole-home heat pump verification form; Mass Save integrated controls; Mass Save income-based assistance; Mass Save enhanced residential offers; Mass Save enhanced heat pump rebates; Mass Save Home Energy Assessments; Mass Save HEAT Loan; Mass Save Find a Heat Pump Installer; IRS Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit.