Heat pumps in Maine
Maine is the most interesting heat pump story in America, and the headline number hides it. Only 4.4% of homes run a heat pump as their main heat — but 12.2% have one, the widest gap in the country. Mainers bought mini-splits by the hundred thousand and kept the oil boiler in the basement.
Heat pump adoption
EIA RECS 2020 microdata ↗4.4% of Maine homes use a heat pump as their main heat
Goal: every home
Central heat pumps and ductless mini-splits combined, counted as the home's main heating equipment. A further 7.8% of Maine homes run a mini-split as secondary heat alongside oil.
Episodes
Recorded in Maine
Homeowners and contractors in ME, in their own words.
Money and next steps
What Maine pays toward one
Efficiency Maine
The state's efficiency trust, and the reason Maine leads the country on installs. Rebates for whole-home and single-room heat pumps, with larger amounts for low- and moderate-income households.
Program details →Federal Home Energy Rebates
The IRA rebate programs (HEAR and HOMES) survived the 2025 tax changes — they were grants to states, not tax credits. Each state runs its own, and they are at different stages: some open, some already out of money, some yet to launch. Check where Maine stands before you count on it.
Program details →
The federal 25C tax credit — 30% back, up to $2,000 on a heat pump — ended for systems placed in service after 31 December 2025. If you had one installed in 2025 or earlier you can still claim it; there is no successor credit. Incentives move fast, so check DSIRE for what is current in Maine. Last checked September 2026.
Ready to get quotes?
Tell us about your home and we'll connect you with installers who work in Maine — and who we'd let near our own houses.
The numbers
What a heat pump here has to cover
16°F
Coldest month average low
Portland · NOAA 1991–2020 normals
80°F
Warmest month average high
Portland · NOAA 1991–2020 normals
Cold-climate heat pumps are rated to hold full output well below zero. The question here is not whether one works, it is whether yours was sized and installed for the coldest night of the year rather than the average one.