Energy Savings Program natural gas and propane to heat pump rebates

In order to qualify for this rebate, all of the following requirements must be met. Please read them carefully. Contact an Energy Savings Program Coach if you have questions.

Income qualification requirements

Rebate coverage is based on the combined income of all adults in your home and how many people live in your home, including adults and children.

Learn more about the three income levels that are eligible for rebates.

Requirements for the home

You must live in an eligible home:

• The property must be a year-round primary residence, that is at least 12 months old.
• For participants registering in the program as income levels 1 or 2, the property must have a total assessed value at or under $1,230,000 in the BC Assessment listing for the address of the applicant’s home in the year of program registration.
• If a household meets the income threshold of any of the levels in the table above, but the home is valued at or higher than the property value of $1,230,000, they will be approved as an income level 3 participant.
• You must have a residential utility account with FortisBC, BC Hydro, or a municipal utility.
• You must pay your own energy utility bills. Utility accounts must be in the name of the resident and/or homeowner; utility accounts in the name of a strata corporation or landlord are not eligible.
• The home must be one of the following types of residential buildings:
  • Single-family home (detached dwelling).
  • Secondary suite in a single-family home (detached dwelling), with its own separate utility meter.
  • Mobile home that is permanently fixed, sits on a foundation and is structurally complete with installed and connected plumbing, heating, electrical, water and sewer services; towing apparatus and axle must be removed.
  • Duplex, triplex, row home or townhome, where each unit has its own natural gas and/or electricity meter; utility accounts must be in the name of the resident and/or homeowner. Utility accounts in the name of a strata corporation are not eligible.
• If you currently rent your home, you will need a landlord consent form to accompany your application.
• You must pre-register and receive an eligibility code before completing the upgrade.
• The home must be primarily heated by one of the following:
  • natural gas, propane or oil
  • electricity (hard-wired electric heating systems such as electric baseboards, radiant ceilings, radiant floors, or forced-air furnace/boiler).
  • wood or other solid fuels.

Requirements for your contractor

New heat pumps must be installed:

• By an program registered contractor who is approved to install home upgrades for the CleanBC Energy Savings Program, and for the trade applicable to the upgrade being installed (e.g. Heat pumps must be installed by a licensed residential heating and cooling contractor), and
• In accordance with the Heat Pump Best Practices Guide for Existing Homes.

Requirements for the upgrade

• You must pre-register and receive an eligibility code before completing the upgrade.
• The new heat pump must:
  • Be capable of distributing heat throughout all the conditioned space in the house served previously by the primary heating system.
  • Meet or exceed SEER ≥ 16.0, HSPF ≥ 10.0 (Region IV) or SEER2 ≥ 15.2, HSPF2 ≥ 8.5 (Region IV)*.
  • Replace the existing fossil fuel heating system and all fossil fuel heating equipment (piping, appliances, fuel containers, vents and associated infrastructure) must be removed in accordance with all applicable laws.
  • Have a minimum capacity of 12,000 BTU (1 ton).
  • Have a variable speed compressor.
  • Serve a main living area (e.g. family room, living room, or open-concept kitchen-living room).
  • Have an AHRI certified reference number that references all components of the heat pump.
  • Be listed as a qualified system on the qualified heat pump product list for B.C.
  • Central ducted heat pumps must have a static pressure ≥0.6” WC.
  • Meet these additional design and capacity requirements.

*The CleanBC Energy Savings Program will accept either the HSPF/SEER or HSPF2/SEER2 testing standard data from AHRI. The new HSPF2/SEER2 testing standard tests heat pumps to a higher standard that better represents homes in Canada, resulting in different efficiency data. An eligible heat pump that meets either the HSPF/SEER requirements or the HSPF2/SEER2 requirements and is on our qualified product list will qualify for a rebate.