Heat pumps in Vermont
Vermont has the coldest reference city on this site and a housing stock to match — old, leaky, and mostly heated by propane or oil trucked to the door. Just 1.8% of homes run a heat pump as their main system, though three times that many have one working alongside the existing boiler.
Heat pump adoption
EIA RECS 2020 microdata ↗1.8% of Vermont 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 3.6% of Vermont homes run a mini-split as secondary heat alongside propane or oil.
Episodes
Recorded in Vermont
Homeowners and contractors in VT, in their own words.
Money and next steps
What Vermont pays toward one
Efficiency Vermont
The country's first statewide energy efficiency utility. Rebates on cold-climate heat pumps, plus income-based adders and 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 Vermont 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 Vermont. Last checked September 2026.
Ready to get quotes?
Tell us about your home and we'll connect you with installers who work in Vermont — and who we'd let near our own houses.
The numbers
What a heat pump here has to cover
13°F
Coldest month average low
Burlington · NOAA 1991–2020 normals
82°F
Warmest month average high
Burlington · NOAA 1991–2020 normals
Winters here are genuinely severe, and that is the whole ballgame. A cold-climate heat pump is rated to hold useful output well below zero, but the rating only matters if the unit was picked for it. Ask any installer what happens on the coldest night of the year, and what the backup is when it arrives.