TECH Clean California Heat Pump Rebate: 2026 Status

Last reviewed: 2026-07-09 (UTC)

If you are searching for a TECH Clean California heat pump rebate, the short answer is this:

TECH Clean California's single-family incentives page says it is no longer accepting heat pump HVAC incentive reservations. The separate single-family HEEHRA rebate path is also fully reserved statewide, and both the California Energy Commission and the HEEHRA Eligibility + Support Portal say new single-family income-verification requests are closed.

That does not mean every California heat pump rebate is gone. It means you need to separate three different questions before you trust the savings line in a quote:

Is the quote using the older TECH Clean California incentive?
Is it using the income-qualified HEEHRA rebate that runs through TECH?
Or is it really using a local utility or regional rebate that is still live at your address?

This page explains the current status, preserves the published amount tables people still quote, and shows what Californians should check next.

Quick answer: what is closed and what still matters

Path	Current single-family status	What that means for homeowners
Legacy TECH Clean California HVAC incentive	Closed to new statewide reservations	The older statewide single-family HVAC reservation path is no longer open for fresh reservations.
Single-family HEEHRA rebate through TECH	Fully reserved statewide and not accepting new income verifications	If you do not already have the right approval chain in place, do not assume you can start a new statewide HEEHRA heat-pump project today.
Waitlisted HEEHRA projects	May still exist in the system	A waitlisted project is not the same as an approved one, and installation before reservation approval can make the project ineligible.
Local utility / regional rebates	Varies by service territory	Programs like LADWP, SMUD, and other address-specific offers may still be the real live path for your home.

This page still matters because contractors, utility pages, and search results keep reusing TECH Clean California amount tables and HEEHRA workflow language. If you do not know which bucket your quote is using, it is easy to mistake an older statewide number for a live rebate.

How much was the TECH Clean California heat pump rebate?

The easiest way to avoid confusion is to separate the older TECH single-family incentive from the HEEHRA single-family rebate.

Published legacy TECH Clean California HVAC amounts

On TECH's single-family incentives page, the published single-family HVAC amounts were:

Heat pump HVAC installation scenario	Incentive for first unit	Incentive for second unit
Furnace left as backup, regardless of whether prior A/C existed	$1,000	$1,000
Furnace fully decommissioned, no prior A/C	$1,000	$1,000
Furnace fully decommissioned, with prior A/C	$1,500	$1,500
Equity adder for income-qualified customers	$2,500	$0
Maximum incentive per unit	$4,000	$1,500

TECH also published separate air-to-water heat pump amounts:

Air-to-water heat pump path	Published amount
Standard unit	$3,500
Low-GWP refrigerant unit	$5,000

Those numbers still matter because older quotes and third-party pages keep pointing to them. They are not proof that the statewide reservation path is open today.

Published single-family HEEHRA heat pump amounts through TECH

TECH's HEEHRA page and the California Energy Commission's rebate page use this homeowner-facing amount structure for qualifying single-family heat pump HVAC projects:

Household income tier	Published HEEHRA heat pump HVAC amount
Under 80% of area median income (AMI)	Up to $8,000
80% to 150% of area median income (AMI)	Up to $4,000

That HEEHRA table is the one many homeowners mean when they ask about the TECH Clean California heat pump rebate now. The important distinction is that the published amount and the current statewide availability are no longer the same question.

Who qualified for these rebates?

The qualification rules changed depending on which TECH path a homeowner was actually using.

Legacy TECH Clean California single-family incentive rules

On the older TECH single-family incentives page, the standard HVAC incentive was tied to the replacement scenario, such as whether the furnace stayed as backup or was fully decommissioned. TECH also published an equity adder for households that met at least one of these income-related tests:

household income at or below 80% of area median income; or
household income at or below 250% of the federal poverty level.

That older program also tied eligibility to residential electricity customers working with a TECH Clean California contractor. On The Switch Is On incentive resources page, TECH's partner program also says legacy TECH heat-pump incentive customers had to enroll in an approved demand-response program.

HEEHRA single-family rules through TECH

The HEEHRA path is narrower. TECH's HEEHRA page and the California Energy Commission say the single-family rebate is for California homeowners, condo owners, owners of manufactured or mobile homes, and small properties up to four units when the project is replacing an existing non-heat-pump primary heating source with a qualifying heat pump.

That is why HEEHRA is not just a general statewide heat-pump discount. It is an income-qualified, contractor-led rebate path that depends on both household verification and approved project reservation.

How the contractor and reservation flow actually worked

This is where many homeowners get tripped up.

1. Income verification was only one step

If a project depended on HEEHRA, the homeowner first had to go through the HEEHRA Eligibility + Support Portal. But that portal is explicit: an approved income verification is not an approval or reservation for the rebate.

After income approval, the approval PDF goes to the contractor email listed in the application, and the contractor moves the project into the reservation step.

2. A TECH-certified, HEEHRA-trained contractor had to move the project forward

The California Energy Commission and TECH's HEEHRA page both direct homeowners to work through a TECH-certified, HEEHRA-trained contractor rather than treating this like a stand-alone homeowner rebate form.

This is also where it helps to separate the older TECH incentive from HEEHRA. The Switch Is On incentive resources page says demand-response enrollment is required for the older TECH incentive, but not for the HEEHRA rebate. If a contractor mixes those rules together, ask which program path they are actually quoting.

3. The reservation had to be approved before installation

The California Energy Commission says projects must have an approved reservation (preapproval) or they will not be funded. The HEEHRA Eligibility + Support Portal says the same thing in plainer language: do not move forward with installation until the reservation is approved.

If your project is only on a waitlist, that is not the same thing as having secured the rebate.

4. Payment could show up in two different ways

TECH's HEEHRA page says the rebate may reach the customer in one of two ways:

as an instant discount on the invoice; or
as a reimbursement or check after the rebate is processed.

That is why you should always ask the contractor to show the gross project price before incentives and then show exactly how the rebate is expected to appear.

What "fully reserved," "waitlist," and "closed to new income verifications" mean in practice

These phrases are related, but they do not mean the same thing.

Fully reserved statewide

This means the published rebate amount may still appear on official pages, but the statewide funding bucket for new single-family projects has already been committed.

Closed to new income verifications

This means a homeowner who has not already passed the intake step should not assume they can start a new single-family HEEHRA application right now. The California Energy Commission and the HEEHRA Eligibility + Support Portal both say that new single-family income-verification requests are closed.

Waitlist

This means a project may still be sitting in line if funding becomes available again. But a waitlisted project is not an approved reservation, and TECH's HEEHRA page says a waitlisted project is only eligible if the heat pump is installed after the reservation is approved.

The cleanest question to ask any contractor is:

Do you already have an approved reservation for this project, or are you only expecting one later?

If the answer is vague, treat the rebate as unconfirmed.

What Californians should check next if statewide TECH funds are closed

This page is only meant to answer the TECH-specific question: is the statewide rebate path still live, and if not, what do the published numbers actually mean now?

If you need the broader California routing view, start with The Switch Is On incentive finder, which TECH itself points homeowners to for current options. Then use WattWallet's California Heat Pump Rebates Guide for the fuller statewide picture across utility, city, and regional programs.

If a contractor still shows a TECH or HEEHRA line item in a 2026 quote, ask them to spell out which of these buckets it depends on:

an older TECH reservation that was already secured;
an already-approved HEEHRA reservation; or
a separate address-specific local utility or regional rebate.

Important 2026 caution on the old federal tax credit

Do not let a 2026 quote assume the old federal 25C heat-pump tax credit still applies automatically.

The IRS energy efficient home improvement credit page says homeowners can claim the credit for improvements made through December 31, 2025, and that the credit is allowed only for qualifying property placed in service on or after January 1, 2023, and before December 31, 2025. The California Energy Commission points Californians to that same federal deadline.

If a contractor is still blending a 25C line item into a brand-new 2026 project without explaining the install date and tax-year logic, ask for the quote to be broken apart. If you need help doing that, WattWallet's Tax Credit vs Rebate guide is the best next read.

Recommended next step for most homeowners

Before you treat a TECH Clean California heat-pump rebate number as real money, ask for these four things in writing:

Which program path is this quote using? Is it the older TECH incentive, a HEEHRA reservation, or a local utility rebate?
Is there an approved reservation already attached to the project? If not, do not assume the money is secured.
If it is not a TECH or HEEHRA reservation, which local program is paying? Ask for the exact utility or regional program page, not just a generic "California rebate" label.
If a federal tax credit is included, what official rule says this install date still qualifies? Ask for the tax-credit line to be shown separately from the rebate math.

If your main question is the broader California landscape beyond TECH, go next to WattWallet's California Heat Pump Rebates Guide. If you need the deeper HEEHRA program context, use the HEEHRA Rebates guide.

Short FAQ

Does California still have a TECH Clean California heat pump rebate?

Not as one simple new statewide single-family reservation for most homeowners. The older statewide TECH single-family HVAC path is closed, and the single-family HEEHRA path through TECH is fully reserved statewide. Some local California utility and regional rebates may still be available.

Is the TECH Clean California rebate the same as HEEHRA?

No. TECH Clean California has hosted more than one heat-pump incentive path. The older single-family TECH incentive and the single-family HEEHRA rebate are related, but they are not the same amount table or eligibility path.

Does an approved income verification mean my rebate money is reserved?

No. The HEEHRA Eligibility + Support Portal says an approved income verification only confirms income eligibility. Funding is only reserved once the contractor's reservation request is approved.

Can I install the system while my project is on the waitlist?

Do not assume that is safe. TECH's HEEHRA page says waitlisted projects are only eligible if the heat pump is installed after the reservation is approved.

What should I check if the statewide TECH rebate is closed?

Start with the Switch Is On incentive finder, then check your utility's heat-pump page directly. For WattWallet's broader statewide routing help, use the California Heat Pump Rebates Guide.

Source and policy note

This page is informational and not legal or tax advice. TECH Clean California, HEEHRA, and local utility rules can change quickly. Confirm live status, approved-reservation requirements, equipment eligibility, and current funding directly on the official program pages before you approve a project.

Sources

Fast application checklist

Confirm whether the quote depends on a legacy TECH incentive, a HEEHRA reservation, or a local utility rebate.
If the project relies on HEEHRA, confirm whether an approved income-verification result and an approved reservation already exist.
Work only with the required certified or participating contractor for the path you are using.
Verify equipment eligibility, service-territory rules, and any demand-response or utility-program requirements before signing.
Do not install before reservation approval when the project depends on HEEHRA.
Save the quote, model numbers, utility account details, reservation proof, and permit records in one folder.