Rebate Guide
Ask three neighbors on the South Shore what a heat pump rebate is worth. You can get three different answers. All three might be right.
The heat pump rebate in Quincy MA runs through Mass Save. It can reach $8,500. Drive ten minutes south into Braintree and that rebate does not exist at all.
That is not a loophole. It comes down to who sells you power. Most guides for this area skip it. That leaves people counting on money they will never get.
Mass Save pays Quincy homeowners up to $8,500 per home for a qualifying heat pump. Income-qualified households can reach $16,000. Quincy also runs a local Community First Partnership. The city holds Designated Equity Community status, which opens extra help. Braintree is the exception, and its town-owned utility is why.
Two things shifted this year. Both change your math.
The federal tax credit is gone. Section 25C covered 30% of a heat pump job, up to $2,000 a year. It ended for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. The One Big Beautiful Bill closed it.
If you are reading older advice that stacks a federal credit on a state rebate, that advice is stale. For most homes, Mass Save is now the only incentive left.
Mass Save also added a third tier. The new Basic rebate pays $250 per ton. It caps at $2,500 per home.
That tier covers two cases the older ones left out. The first is swapping an old heat pump for a new one. The second is heating a space that was never heated before. Neither used to earn a dime.
Mass Save in Quincy is run through National Grid. Your tier depends on one question. Does the heat pump become the only thing heating and cooling those rooms?
Two bonuses can be added. Both are partial-home only.
Income-qualified homes follow a different path. More money comes with it. That route reaches up to $16,000. Homes at or below 80% of Area Median Income may stack a HEAR rebate worth up to $8,000 on top.
Here is what you are offsetting. A whole-home cold-climate system in Quincy, ducted or ductless, often costs as much as $18,000. Most jobs start closer to $12,000. After the Mass Save rebate, net cost usually lands under $9,500. Plenty of homes land nearer $3,500.
Quincy has something most cities in the state do not. It is worth knowing before you book anything.
Quincy Asian Resources and the cities of Quincy and Randolph take part in the Mass Save Community First Partnership. They work directly with National Grid.
The goal is to get energy upgrades to residents, small businesses, and nonprofits. It is a real local program, not a label. You can reach it at (617) 639-9222.
Now the part that carries real money. Quincy is a Designated Equity Community. That status unlocks extra incentives beyond the standard statewide offers. Mass Save tells Quincy residents to ask about them during a Home Energy Assessment. They are not applied for you.
Owners and renters in buildings with one to four units can book a no-cost Home Energy Assessment. That visit is also the gateway to the $500 Weatherization Bonus. Doing it first rather than last tends to pay off.
Here is the part almost every guide for this area gets wrong.
Braintree is served by the Braintree Electric Light Department. It is a town-owned utility, known as a municipal light plant.
Mass Save is funded by a surcharge on investor-owned utility bills. Those are the bills National Grid and Eversource customers pay. Braintree residents do not pay into that fund. So Braintree homeowners cannot get Mass Save electric heat pump rebates.
Braintree is not left with nothing. BELD runs its own program, called Clean Comfort. It works with Abode Energy Management. It is a real program. It is also a separate one:
We are not printing BELD dollar amounts here. Figures on other sites do not agree with each other. BELD points people to a program administrator instead of posting numbers. Call BELD and get the current figure from the source.
One more note if you are shopping the wider South Shore. Hingham runs its own town utility too, so the same rule applies there. Milton and Weymouth do not. Both are served by investor-owned utilities. Mass Save applies there as normal.
Qualifying is less about paperwork than about gear and sizing.
The unit has to be on the list. Equipment must be ENERGY STAR Cold Climate certified. It must also appear on the Mass Save Heat Pump Qualified Products List, or HPQPL. A system that is not on that list earns nothing. The brochure does not matter.
The sizing has to be proven. An ACCA Manual J load calculation is standard practice on Mass Save jobs. You need one to earn the sizing bonus. Manual J is a room-by-room heat loss study. It is not a guess based on square footage.
Design temperature matters here. Quincy's 99% winter design temperature is 10.4°F. That reading comes from South Weymouth Naval Air Station, the nearest ASHRAE station. Your installer should check capacity against that number. A system that looks fine at 30°F can fall short in January.
Sole-source status sets your tier. Keep the old boiler as backup and you are in partial-home territory. That is $1,125 per ton, not $2,650 per ton. The gap is large. Decide on purpose, not by accident.
Two local details are easy to miss. Quincy issues residential HVAC permits through the Inspectional Services Department, Building Division, at the 55 Sea Street DPW complex.
The Wollaston Hill Local Historic District holds more than 300 homes built between 1880 and 1920. They are Colonial Revival, Shingle Style, and Queen Anne. The Quincy Historical Commission reviews outside changes you can see from a public way. That includes where your outdoor unit sits.
The rebate covers a chunk. The HEAT Loan covers the rest at 0% APR, up to $25,000.
Term length depends on household income against State Median Income:
The loan covers gear and labor for qualifying upgrades. That includes ductless mini-splits, insulation, and water heaters, not just the heat pump. A bank still has to approve you, and lenders across Massachusetts take part.
Homes below roughly 81% of SMI are usually sent to the no-cost and enhanced-rebate programs instead. That is often a better deal than borrowing.
How much is the Mass Save heat pump rebate in Quincy?
A whole-home system earns $2,650 per ton, capped at $8,500 per home. Partial-home installs earn $1,125 per ton against that same cap. Income-qualified households can reach $16,000. Those at or below 80% of Area Median Income may add a HEAR rebate worth up to $8,000.
Do ductless mini-splits qualify for the Mass Save rebate?
Yes. Mass Save treats ducted and ductless air-source systems the same way. What matters is that the gear is ENERGY STAR Cold Climate certified and sits on the HPQPL. The install also has to meet the tier rules for whole-home or partial-home status.
Is there still a federal tax credit for heat pumps in 2026?
No. The Section 25C credit was worth 30% of cost, up to $2,000 a year. It ended for property placed in service after December 31, 2025, under the One Big Beautiful Bill. For most Massachusetts homes, Mass Save is now the only incentive left to claim.
Can I get a heat pump rebate in Braintree?
Not through Mass Save's electric program. Braintree Electric Light Department is a town-owned utility, which puts Braintree outside Mass Save. BELD runs its own Clean Comfort program with different gear rules. Braintree homes heated by gas may still qualify for Mass Save on the gas side.
What is a Manual J calculation and do I need one?
Manual J is an ACCA-standard heat load study done room by room. It shows what capacity your home actually needs. It is standard practice on Mass Save jobs. You need one to earn the $500 Right-Sized Equipment Bonus on a partial-home install.
Quincy is one of the better spots in Massachusetts to put in a heat pump right now. The heat pump rebate in Quincy MA reaches $8,500 per home on a standard whole-home job. The local Community First Partnership with National Grid is active, and Designated Equity Community status opens doors most cities cannot offer.
Net cost after rebate often lands under $9,500. Zero percent financing covers the balance.
Two things deserve a look before you sign. First, confirm which utility serves your address. Braintree and Hingham sit under town-owned utilities and separate programs.
Second, decide early whether the heat pump will be your only heat source. That choice moves your rebate from $1,125 per ton to $2,650 per ton.
Programs change. Check current terms with Mass Save or BELD before you buy.
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