What Seattle City Light pays in 2026
We read Seattle City Light's heating and cooling page on October 6, 2026. The page lists four home offers and sends income-qualified households to the City of Seattle's Office of Housing. It does not list insulation or window rebates for regular homes. Seattle's own electric service means PSE rebates do not apply to your electric bill, though they can apply if PSE sends your gas bill.
Heat pump instant discount
Your contractor buys a qualifying heat pump at a discount through a participating supplier and can pass it on in the bid. $300 for efficiency rating HSPF2 8.1, $400 for 8.5 and $600 for 9.5 or higher. Do-it-yourself installs do not qualify.
Oil to electric heat
An instant rebate for Seattle homes that heat with oil and switch to a qualified heat pump through a participating contractor. Income-eligible homes can get the whole switch at no cost from the Office of Housing.
Heat pump water heater
Available through a contractor, as an instant coupon at The Home Depot or Lowe's, or as an online rebate if you buy elsewhere and install it yourself. The coupon and the online rebate cannot be combined.
Smart thermostat
An instant discount on Mysa and Sinope thermostats when you buy from the maker's Seattle City Light page.
Solar net metering
Systems up to 100 kilowatts earn credits at your retail rate for power sent to the grid. Extra credits roll forward.
A quick example
A Seattle home with an old oil furnace could pay for a ductless heat pump with the $2,000 oil switch rebate. Add the $750 water heater rebate if the family also replaces an electric tank, and Seattle City Light and the City together cover $2,750 of the bills. A home that already heats with electric baseboards would not get the oil rebate, but would still get the contractor discount of $300 to $600 on a qualifying heat pump.
Where the City of Seattle fits in
Seattle City Light is a city department, so its page also points to the City's other programs. The Office of Housing runs the Clean Heat program, which gives income-eligible oil-heated households a heat pump at no cost. The Office of Housing's HomeWise program offers a free heating and cooling system plus insulation upgrades to income-eligible customers. The State Department of Commerce lists the City of Seattle as a local partner for its state home electrification rebates, with a $1,616,516 award for rebates to households at or below 150 percent of area median income. We did not find a dollar amount per household on the state's page, so ask the City for current amounts before you plan around it.
What the rebate page does not list
If you hoped for an insulation, window or battery rebate from Seattle City Light, we did not find one on the heating and cooling page or the solar page when we read them. The City Light solar page tells owners to look at federal and state incentives and says nothing about a City Light solar rebate. For help with solar costs, the one sure state benefit we verified is the state sales tax exemption on solar equipment and installation for systems up to 100 kilowatts, which runs through 2029. The federal credit ended after 2025.
City Light's solar page also says an average Seattle home system is about 8 kilowatts and costs between $25,000 and $30,000 before incentives. That is City Light's own estimate, not a quote. Get at least three bids, as the page itself suggests.
Gas heat in Seattle homes
The US Census Bureau (American Community Survey, 2020 to 2024) says about 33 percent of Seattle homes heat with utility gas. Seattle City Light does not sell gas, so its rebates cover the electric side only. If Puget Sound Energy sends your gas bill, read our Puget Sound Energy rebate guide, because its gas-to-heat-pump and hybrid heat pump rebates depend on your gas account. The rules there are about your fuel and customer account, not your street address.
Contractors and paperwork
The City Light page says the heat pump discount goes to contractors who buy through participating suppliers, so you cannot get it by buying a unit yourself. Ask each bidder in writing whether their price already includes the discount and which rating of unit they are quoting. Two bids can differ by $300 or more just because one contractor passes the discount on and the other does not. The water heater rebate is easier to claim yourself, but the heat pump must be a Tier 3 or Tier 4 model on the qualified list.
How to claim Seattle City Light rebates
- Check that Seattle City Light sends your electric bill. If a different utility does, use that utility's page instead.
- Decide whether your home heats with oil, since that opens the $2,000 City rebate and the free Clean Heat program for lower-income homes.
- Ask contractors to quote with the City Light instant discount and show it as its own line on the bid.
- For a water heater, pick the contractor route, the store coupon or the online rebate, and do not combine the coupon with the online form.
- Keep every invoice, model number and date in one folder in case City Light asks for them.
Our pages for Seattle City Light customers
- Seattle: Seattle City Light electric service.
- Seattle heat pump rebates: Contractor discount and oil switch.
- Seattle water heater rebates: $750 three ways.
Guides
Common questions
Does Seattle City Light have a heat pump rebate?
It has a contractor instant discount of $300, $400 or $600 depending on the efficiency of the heat pump, plus a $2,000 rebate for oil-heated homes that switch. Do-it-yourself installs are not eligible.
How much is the water heater rebate?
$750 for a qualifying ENERGY STAR Tier 3 or Tier 4 heat pump water heater, either through a contractor, an instant coupon at The Home Depot or Lowe's, or an online rebate for a unit you install yourself.
Is there a Seattle City Light insulation rebate?
We did not find one on the pages we read. Income-eligible households can use the City's HomeWise program for free insulation and a heating and cooling system.
What is net metering?
It is a bill credit for solar power your system sends to the grid. City Light credits it at your retail rate for systems up to 100 kilowatts, and extra credits carry forward.
Can I still get the federal solar tax credit?
No. The IRS says it does not apply to property placed in service after December 31, 2025.
By Sam Menard. Sources, last read October 6, 2026: Seattle City Light heating and cooling rebates, Seattle City Light solar power, Seattle Office of Housing oil to electric program, Washington Department of Commerce HEAR program, Washington state solar sales tax exemption (RCW 82.08.962). All rebate programs →