Heat pumps in New Hampshire
New Hampshire heats with oil more than almost anywhere else, and that shows up in the numbers: 2.4% of homes run a heat pump as their main heat, while 6.7% have one. The mini-split-beside-the-oil-boiler pattern is the New England default, and New Hampshire is a textbook case.
Heat pump adoption
EIA RECS 2020 microdata ↗2.4% of New Hampshire 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 4.3% of New Hampshire homes run a mini-split as secondary heat alongside oil.
Episodes
Recorded in New Hampshire
Homeowners and contractors in NH, in their own words.
Money and next steps
What New Hampshire pays toward one
NHSaves
The joint program of New Hampshire's electric and gas utilities. Heat pump rebates, home energy assessments, and low-interest financing.
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 New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire. Last checked September 2026.
Ready to get quotes?
Tell us about your home and we'll connect you with installers who work in New Hampshire — and who we'd let near our own houses.
The numbers
What a heat pump here has to cover
17°F
Coldest month average low
Manchester · NOAA 1991–2020 normals
84°F
Warmest month average high
Manchester · 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.