What North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, State Energy Office (Energy Saver North Carolina) pays, the condition attached to each figure, who qualifies, who may do the work, and the page to apply on.
North Carolina is taking applications now, through Energy Saver North Carolina (HEAR and HOMES), run by North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, State Energy Office (Energy Saver North Carolina). The largest heat pump figure it prints is $8,000. It is one of only 13 states out of 50 where a homeowner can apply today.
launched in January 2025
Start the application at North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, State Energy Office (Energy Saver North Carolina) Energy Efficiency Rebates, NC DEQ State Energy Office
Read September 23, 2026.
Each figure carries the condition North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, State Energy Office (Energy Saver North Carolina) attached to it, and the condition is the half that decides whether the figure applies to a particular house. Where the office wrote a sentence beside the number, that sentence is reproduced whole and linked to the page it was read from, because a paraphrase of an eligibility rule is a different statement than the rule.
Up to $16,000 or 100% of project cost
Applies HOMES rebate, single family under 80% AMI at 20% or greater modeled energy savings.
20% - 34% | Less than 80% AMI | Up to $16,000 or 100% of project costNorth Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, State Energy Office (Energy Saver North Carolina), read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$8,000
Applies ENERGY STAR certified electric heat pump for space heating, one system, lifetime maximum per product category.
ENERGY STAR(R) certified electric heat pump for space heating* | $8,000 | Yes | One SystemNorth Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, State Energy Office (Energy Saver North Carolina), read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$1,750
Applies ENERGY STAR certified, limit one.
ENERGY STAR certified electric heat pump water heater* | $1,750 | Yes | 1North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, State Energy Office (Energy Saver North Carolina), read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$840
Applies or combo washer dryer, limit one.
ENERGY STAR certified electric heat pump clothes dryer or combo washer/dryer* | $840 | Yes | 1North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, State Energy Office (Energy Saver North Carolina), read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$4,000
Applies only when required to enable an eligible appliance on the same application.
Electrical panel improvements*** | $4,000 | NoNorth Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, State Energy Office (Energy Saver North Carolina), read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$2,500
Applies only when required to enable an eligible appliance on the same application.
Electrical wiring*** | $2,500 | NoNorth Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, State Energy Office (Energy Saver North Carolina), read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$1,600
Applies insulation, air sealing and or ventilation, not eligible on new construction.
ENERGY STAR certified insulation, air sealing, and/or ventilation | $1,600 | NoNorth Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, State Energy Office (Energy Saver North Carolina), read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Income and the contractor list are where the largest number of applications stop, and both are usually discovered late. Nationally 34 states publish an income rule and 28 of those tier the award by it, meaning income decides how much is paid rather than only whether anything is; 23 require the work to go through a contractor the programme has approved, which generally excludes work a homeowner does themselves.
Income decides the size of the award in North Carolina, or whether there is one at all. Two tiers under 150% of area median income: the lower tier covers all of the project cost up to the cap and the upper tier covers half of it, and above 150% AMI a household is not eligible.
1 | Household income up to 80% AMI | 100% of project costs up to $14,000 / 2 | Household income between 80% and 150% AMI | 50% of project costs up to $14,000 / Households with greater incomes (>150% AMI) are NOT eligible for this program.North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, State Energy Office (Energy Saver North Carolina), read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
The work has to go through a contractor the programme has approved. the work must be done by a contractor registered with the programme, and the rebate comes off the price at installation
The table below shows the eligible products, and maximum rebate amounts you may receive when installed by a Registered Contractor.North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, State Energy Office (Energy Saver North Carolina), read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
These are two separate programmes and conflating them is the commonest error on pages about this. A North Carolina rebate is money off the job, applied for through North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, State Energy Office (Energy Saver North Carolina) under its own rules. The federal credit is money off a tax bill, claimed when filing, with no application and no approval step. Different timing, different paperwork, and qualifying for one says nothing about qualifying for the other.
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, State Energy Office (Energy Saver North Carolina) does not address on its own pages whether the two can be claimed on one job. Only 10 state offices do, so the silence is normal rather than a signal either way.
North Carolina is in the smaller group. 13 of the fifty states are taking applications from homeowners, against 31 that have announced a programme and never opened it and 6 in some other state of suspension. An open programme can close: at least one state has reserved its funding, shut, and reopened more than once inside two years.
Across the country 155 separate dollar figures are printed and 21 states print none at all. The spread has little to do with climate: it tracks how each state chose to divide a federal allocation between a small number of large whole home awards and a large number of small per appliance ones.
North Carolina read September 23, 2026 from North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, State Energy Office (Energy Saver North Carolina)’s own pages, linked beside every figure and every rule. A programme can open, reserve its funding and stop taking applications inside a single season, so the office page linked above is what governs on the day. Every state is on the home energy rebates hub.