Your electricity bill and your utility territory both matter.
Begin with two documents: a full year of electricity bills and a replacement proposal that names every indoor and outdoor component. The bill helps you compare operating costs; the utility account tells you where to look for incentives.
For a Houston-area home, ask how the design handles moisture during lighter cooling demand. For an El Paso-area home, ask which summer and winter outdoor conditions were used. These are contrasting planning examples, not a statewide sizing rule. The installer should use the location and construction of your actual home.
Use the cost of the electricity you would actually avoid.
For a competitive retail plan, read its Electricity Facts Label and terms alongside your usage history. For a municipal utility or cooperative, use its current rate schedule. Ask the provider to explain delivery charges, usage-based credits, and time-based prices that affect your bill.
Illustrative arithmetic: if a proposed system uses 500 fewer kWh during a period and each avoided kWh costs $0.16, the energy reduction is $80. This is not a Texas savings forecast. Fixed charges may remain, and a usage credit or time-based rate can change the result.
Ask bidders to state estimated heating and cooling electricity separately, include backup heat, and show their rate assumptions. Use the same assumptions for both proposals.
Austin Energy has an equipment-only heat-pump offer.
Austin Energy’s equipment-only program lists heat-pump rebates of $650, $750, or $950 across three qualifying tiers. The offer depends on the matched system’s SEER2, EER2, and HSPF2 ratings and uses participating contractors.
Have the contractor identify the applicable tier and the precise program on your proposal. This is for eligible Austin Energy customers; an Austin mailing address or a Texas residence alone does not establish eligibility.
Austin Energy: equipment-only air-conditioning and heat-pump rebates · Source checked 2026-09-06
A whole-home project uses a different Austin Energy schedule.
The separate Home Energy Savings program lists heat-pump equipment tiers of $1,000, $1,300, and $1,600. Those are a different program schedule from the equipment-only offer, not a second rebate to automatically add to it.
Ask a participating contractor whether your project fits the broader upgrade program and what additional work is required. Compare the complete scope and approved incentive with the equipment-only option. A larger advertised rebate is not necessarily the cheaper project.
Austin Energy: Home Energy Savings · Source checked 2026-09-06
Oncor: identify the delivery company on the bill.
Oncor’s Home Energy Efficiency Program pays incentives to participating service providers for qualifying improvements in its delivery territory. Confirm that Oncor is the delivery provider even if your bill comes from a differently named retail electric company. Ask the participating provider for current funding and the benefit passed through on your project.
The same Oncor page specifically says 2026 Low-Income Weatherization funding is exhausted. That notice names a particular program; it should not be presented as proof that every Oncor efficiency offer is closed. Check the program you intend to use.
Oncor: heating and cooling programs · Source checked 2026-09-06
Texas HOMES and HEAR are not open yet.
SECO’s current notice says its HOMES and HEAR programs have not launched and there are no approved contractors for those programs yet. Do not count a proposed state rebate in the net price of a replacement contract. An installer participating in a utility program does not thereby have approval for a future state program.
Texas SECO: program status and fraud alert · Source checked 2026-09-06
Put the gross price and each credit on separate lines.
Before a deposit, ask for this comparison:
| Item | Proposal A | Proposal B |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment and installation before incentives | Written price | Written price |
| Duct/electrical/permit work | Included or itemized | Included or itemized |
| Exact incentive program | Administrator and offer | Administrator and offer |
| Incentive status | Confirmed or conditional | Confirmed or conditional |
| Operating-cost estimate | Rates and usage assumptions | Same assumptions |
| Amount due before rebate payment | Written amount | Written amount |
Keep financing charges and future program possibilities outside the equipment discount total. If you retain another heating system, include its continuing service costs.
Keep old tax-credit promises out of a new quote.
The federal 25C home-improvement credit ended for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. Exclude it from a 2026 installation budget.
IRS: Form 5695 instructions, credit termination · Source checked 2026-09-06
Turn the research into a clear next step.
Sources checked September 6, 2026. Offers can change; confirm the installation-date rules and funding with the program before committing. Temperaly does not approve rebates.
Bring the questions above to your installer, or start a heating and cooling request. A request is not an appointment or a rebate application.
Editorial review: 2026-09-06