The BC Hydro heat pump rebate for electric heat
If baseboards or an electric furnace heat your house today, this is the rebate that applies, and these are the rules behind it.
Who qualifies for this one
One question decides it: is electric heat the primary system in the house today?
What counts as electric heat
- Electric baseboards in the rooms you actually live in
- A forced-air electric furnace
- Electric radiant ceilings or radiant floors
- Any of those, as long as they are the primary system: able to heat at least half the house, for the whole heating season, to 22 °C when it is −5 °C outside
What rules the house out
- A house heated mainly by wood, gas, propane or oil
- Replacing a heat pump you already have, or adding a head to it
- An emergency replacement of a broken electric system
- A self-install, or an install by a contractor outside the Home Performance Contractor Network
Heated by gas, propane or oil instead? The answer is different and mostly shorter: here is what is on the table for each fuel.
How much the rebate pays
Two amounts, set by how much of the house the heat pump carries.
- $4,000 Whole home heating
- The heat pump meets 100% of the home's heating requirements at −5 °C, with electric backup only.
- $1,500 Partial home heating
- The heat pump meets at least 50% of the load and serves an open, finished living area.
The rules that trip people up
None of these are ours. They are the program's, and every one of them has cost somebody a rebate.
- Over 1,200 sq. ft. Homes above that size have to take a multi-split or a central system. A single head in the living room does not qualify the house, however well it heats that room.
- The backup Whatever backs the heat pump up has to be electric. If a gas, oil or propane appliance is carrying part of the load, this is not the rebate you are in.
- Whole home The heat pump has to be sized to carry 100% of the heat load at 22 °C indoors when it is −5 °C out, without leaning on electric resistance heat, and it has to serve the majority of finished living spaces on each floor.
- The paperwork A whole-home rebate needs a heat load calculation done in CSA F280-12 verified software, plus BC Hydro's heat load calculation summary form. That is contractor work, and it happens before the install.
- The equipment The unit has to be on the qualifying product list with a variable-speed compressor, at SEER 16 and HSPF 10 or better, or SEER2 15.2 and HSPF2 8.5. Whole-home systems also have to be on the NEEP cold climate list.
- Timing You have six months from the invoice date to apply, and the invoice itself has to meet BC Hydro's sample invoice requirements. Paid in full, showing a zero balance.
What can be added to it
Two bonuses sit on top of the heat pump rebate, and one program cancels it out.
Two upgrade bonus, $300
Two bonus-eligible upgrades installed within 18 months of each other. The bonus application goes in within six months of the second invoice.
Home energy improvement bonus, up to $2,000
$20 per percentage point of EnerGuide improvement, with a $750 minimum. It needs an EnerGuide evaluation before and after, by a program qualified energy advisor, and at least three bonus-eligible upgrades. One or the other bonus per home, not both.
Not the Energy Savings Program
Home Renovation Rebate money cannot be combined with CleanBC Energy Savings Program funding. If the household is income-qualified, look at both and pick the better one before the work starts.
How the application works
Four steps, and the clock that matters starts at the invoice date.
- 01 A registered contractor looks at the house What heats it now, what the panel can carry, where the heads or the ducts go. A whole-home rebate also needs a heat load calculation in CSA F280-12 verified software, which is contractor work and happens before the install.
- 02 Check the quote before you book Ask for the make and model on the quote and which rebate the job is aimed at. Then you can look the unit up on the qualifying product list yourself.
- 03 The contractor installs it and you pay it The invoice shows the equipment, the address and a zero balance, because the application will be checked against it.
- 04 You apply within six months Online, with the invoice and, for a whole-home job, the heat load summary form and report from your contractor. BC Hydro pays you directly.
BC Hydro suggests getting three quotes, which is fair enough. When you compare them, check that each one names the equipment and says which rebate it is aimed at. This is how we put ours together.
Questions we get about this rebate
My house has baseboards in some rooms and a wood stove. Do I qualify?
Can I get the rebate if I already have a heat pump and want another head?
Who submits the application?
Does a rental or a secondary suite qualify?
Where these rules come from
The official pages every rule on this page comes from.
- BC Hydro, heat pump rebates
$4,000 whole home and $1,500 partial, the bonus of up to $1,000 and its August 1 to October 31, 2026 window, the November 30 application date, the six-month deadline and the advice to get three quotes.
- CleanBC Better Homes, Home Renovation Rebate requirements
Effective for invoices dated on or after May 15, 2026: the primary-system test, the hard-wired electric replacement rule, the 1,200 sq. ft. rule, product and efficiency requirements, the two bonuses, and the rule against combining with the Energy Savings Program.
- CleanBC Better Homes, find a registered contractor
Heat pump rebates need a Home Performance Contractor Network member. The directory shows which programs each contractor is registered for.
We quote heat pumps on the work itself, with no rebate in the price. Three answers get you a straight reply on the phone: what heats the house now, how many rooms have to be warm, and whether the electrical panel has anything spare. The quote names the equipment and the price.
Ask us for a quote on the heat pump
We look at the heating you have now, the space and the panel, then quote the equipment and the install. We reply within 24 hours.