About PaybackZIP

PaybackZIP is a small, independent site that tracks federal, state, and utility electrification rebates in the United States. Enter your ZIP code, household size, and income and the calculator returns every program you qualify for — with current open, closed, or coming-soon status — plus a payback estimate that accounts for your state's electricity rate.

Why this site exists

The federal residential clean-energy tax credits — Section 25C (heat pumps, water heaters, weatherization), Section 25D (solar, batteries), Section 30D (new EVs), and Section 25E (used EVs) — all expired on December 31, 2025. That change was public in mid-2025 but hasn't propagated through most of the content that ranks for "heat pump tax credit 2026" or "EV rebate California." Contractors still quote the federal credits. Blog posts written in 2023 still show up on page one of Google search.

Meanwhile, the state-administered HEAR (Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates) programs that replaced the federal appliance credits are rolling out on wildly different timelines. California's single-family HEEHRA program reached full-reservation in February 2026. Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, and North Carolina have been open since late 2025. Texas hasn't launched yet. Every state has its own portal, contractor list, and eligibility documentation.

I built this site because I couldn't find one place that reliably answered "what rebates can I actually get, in my ZIP code, today?" — with confidence about which programs were open right now versus stale. That's what the calculator on the homepage does, and it's what the state and product guides expand on.

Editorial standards

A few commitments that shape everything on the site:

• Plainspoken and honest about drawbacks. If a rebate program has known enrollment friction, if a utility's contractor list is thin, or if a product's payback math doesn't work in your state, we say so. This is the opposite of most installer-affiliated content, which exists to close a sale.
• Data over dogma. Where the answer is "it depends," we show the ranges and the factors, not one rosy number. The calculator uses state median household income to estimate AMI tiers, state-averaged electricity rates to scale payback, and the actual current status of each program (open, waitlist, closed, launching soon) to determine what's applicable.
• Sourced and dated. Every rebate entry links back to its source. Every state guide has a last-updated date at the top. When a state's program status changes, we log it on the updates page so you can see the change history.
• No paid placements. No installer pays us to list them. No manufacturer pays us to feature their equipment. Where we mention specific products (e.g., cold-climate heat pumps that qualify for state programs), the mention is editorial and reflects program requirements, not sponsorship.

The editor

Heather George is the editor and founder of PaybackZIP. She launched the site in May 2026 after her own attempt to figure out which heat pump rebates were actually available in her state ran into three-year-old blog posts, expired federal credits still being quoted by contractors, and a Rewiring America calculator that hadn't been updated to reflect the January 2026 sunset of the residential IRA tax credits.

The site is small and independent. Heather does the weekly rebate refreshes personally, sourcing from DSIRE, the ENERGY STAR HEAR program tracker, and individual state energy office pages. Every state and product editorial on the site is hand-written after reading the specific program documentation, not summarized from other publications.

PaybackZIP does not accept installer sponsorships, does not sell leads to contractors, and does not participate in affiliate programs where the placement is contingent on positive coverage. Site revenue comes from contextual advertising (Google AdSense) shown alongside content. Where products, states, or programs have real drawbacks or open questions, Heather flags them.

Before PaybackZIP, Heather worked in marketing operations and has run her own small business (Marketing Maverick LLC) since 2023. She is not a licensed HVAC contractor, tax attorney, or energy auditor — for the specifics of your situation, always verify with a licensed professional in your state.

Where the data comes from

Full detail lives on the methodology page. The short version:

• DSIRE — the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency, maintained by the NC Clean Energy Technology Center. Ground truth for state and local incentives.
• ENERGY STAR HEAR program tracker — official rollout status for state HEAR programs.
• State energy office pages — for the freshest status updates that DSIRE sometimes lags on by weeks.
• Utility residential efficiency pages — for the utility-level layer of rebate stacking.
• EIA — monthly state average residential electricity rates, used for payback math.

Data refreshes weekly. Every change is logged on the updates page.

What we don't do

• We don't sell leads. The calculator processes your inputs entirely in-browser. Nothing you enter gets sent to a server or shared with a contractor.
• We don't accept installer sponsorship. No pay-to-play in the state or product guides.
• We don't offer legal, tax, or licensed contractor advice. The rebate amounts and eligibility rules are based on public program documentation. Your actual eligibility depends on income verification, equipment specifications, contractor enrollment, and other program-specific requirements. Verify with a licensed professional and the program administrator before making a purchase decision.
• We don't guarantee the numbers. Rebate amounts change. Programs close. Utility rate structures get restructured. The calculator gives you a directional first pass, not a binding quote.

Corrections and reader input

Found a program we missed? Found one we got wrong? Notice a status has changed? Email hello@paybackzip.com or reach out via the contact form. Corrections that are verifiable land in the next weekly refresh, and material corrections get their own line on the updates page with attribution to the reader (unless you'd rather stay anonymous).

Contact

Editor: hello@paybackzip.com
Site: Contact form
Privacy policy: /privacy/

Site launched May 15, 2026. Last redesigned May 26, 2026. Independently owned and operated by Marketing Maverick LLC.