HEEHRA in Indiana: Rebate Amounts, Income Limits, and Qualifying Equipment

The federal Home Electrification and Appliance Rebate program — the point-of-sale incentive most homeowners simply call HEEHRA — can return up to $14,000 to a single household for going electric. Yet if you own a home in Indiana, you have probably found it surprisingly hard to learn how much of that money is available to you and on what terms.

There is a reason for that gap. Because HEEHRA is state-administered, the rebate takes shape according to how each state energy office rolls it out — and Indiana's rollout has been documented far less thoroughly than those in neighboring Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan.

This guide is built to close that gap. Below, we break down the rebate amounts, the income thresholds tied to Area Median Income, and the heat pump equipment that qualifies under the Indiana Office of Energy Development.

What Is HEEHRA, and How Does It Work in Indiana?

HEEHRA is the common name for the Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates program created by the Inflation Reduction Act. It funnels federal dollars to state energy offices, which then run the rebates as discounts on qualifying equipment rather than as credits you claim later.

That point-of-sale structure is the central difference from the federal 25C tax credit. With HEEHRA, an eligible Indiana household sees the discount at the time of purchase or installation, so there is no waiting until you file your return.

The U.S. Department of Energy allocated funding to Indiana for this program, and the Indiana Office of Energy Development is the agency responsible for the state's rules, contractor network, and application process. Keep in mind that program status and application windows can change, so the state energy office remains the authoritative source.

Why Indiana Homeowners Are Weighing Heat Pumps

Indiana's housing stock leans heavily on natural gas, propane, and electric resistance heat, and each of those fuels carries its own cost and volatility. A cold-climate heat pump consolidates heating and cooling into one high-efficiency system, which is part of why the federal rebate targets it so directly.

The appeal in a state like Indiana is the combination of a genuinely cold winter and a warm, humid summer. A single variable-speed heat pump handles both loads, replacing an aging furnace and air conditioner at once.

What's more, the efficiency gains show up on the utility bill month after month, not only at installation. That ongoing operating-cost story is what makes the up-front rebate worth understanding in detail.

How Much Can Indiana Homeowners Get?

The rebate ceilings are set in federal statute and are consistent from state to state — what Indiana controls is administration, not the dollar caps themselves. Here is how the per-measure maximums break down.

Note that the $14,000 figure is a ceiling on the total across every measure, not a sum you receive automatically. A household that installs only a heat pump, for instance, is working within the $8,000 line item.

What Are the Income Limits?

HEEHRA eligibility is tiered by income, measured against your county's Area Median Income, or AMI — a figure the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development publishes and updates each year. Because AMI is county-specific, the same household income can qualify differently in Marion County than it does in a rural Indiana county.

There are two eligibility bands, plus a cutoff. Households below 80% of AMI can have 100% of project costs covered up to the caps above, while households between 80% and 150% of AMI can have 50% of project costs covered.

Above 150% of AMI, a household falls outside HEEHRA eligibility. Those homeowners still have a federal path, however — the 25C tax credit carries no income ceiling.

For a deeper walk-through of how the two bands are calculated and where the thresholds fall, see our explainer on HEEHRA income tiers.

Which Heat Pump Equipment Qualifies?

Not every heat pump on the market is rebate-eligible. Qualifying units must meet the efficiency requirements set by ENERGY STAR and the U.S. Department of Energy, and states may layer additional performance criteria on top.

For Indiana specifically, the climate matters as much as the certification. Winter design temperatures across much of the state fall well below freezing, so a unit that loses capacity in the cold can leave you leaning on backup heat strips exactly when you need the heat pump most.

This is why we steer Indiana homeowners toward ENERGY STAR Cold Climate models. Here is what to confirm before you buy:

• ENERGY STAR certification. This is the baseline for rebate eligibility and a reliable efficiency floor.
• Cold-climate rating. An ENERGY STAR Cold Climate designation means the unit is tested to hold capacity at low outdoor temperatures, which is critical for an Indiana January.
• Rated capacity at your design temperature. Ask your contractor for output at the 99% winter design temperature, not just the nameplate rating.
• Backup heat strategy. Confirm how the system handles the coldest hours, whether through electric resistance backup or a dual-fuel configuration.

Getting the sizing right is its own discipline, and oversizing is as costly as undersizing. Our guide to cold-climate heat pump sizing covers how to match equipment to an Indiana load, and our overview of heat pump backup heat explains the resistance-versus-dual-fuel tradeoff.

How Does Indiana's Rollout Compare to Neighboring States?

Every state received its own DOE allocation and set its own timeline, which is why a homeowner in Fort Wayne and one across a state line can face very different application experiences. The federal caps are identical; the launch dates, contractor onboarding, and portal readiness are not.

If you want a sense of how the program has taken shape regionally, our state deep dives are the fastest reference. See our breakdowns for HEEHRA in Illinois, HEEHRA in Ohio, and HEEHRA in Michigan for a side-by-side view of Midwestern rollout.

For the running national picture — which states are live and which are still in design — consult our HEEHRA state-by-state status tracker. It is updated as offices open their programs.

How Does HEEHRA Compare to the Federal 25C Tax Credit?

Many Indiana homeowners conflate the two federal incentives, though they work differently and reach different households. HEEHRA is an income-qualified, point-of-sale rebate, while the 25C Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit is a tax credit claimed on your federal return with no income ceiling.

The two are not mutually exclusive, but you generally cannot apply both to the same dollar of equipment cost. A common approach is to use a HEEHRA rebate on one upgrade and the 25C credit on another, provided 25C is still in effect when you file.

Federal credit rules have shifted recently, so verify current status before you build a plan around them. Our 25C-versus-HEEHRA decision tree and our HEEHRA and 25C stacking guide walk through the tradeoffs, and the federal tax credit status hub tracks what is currently active.

What Steps Should Indiana Homeowners Take?

Because this is decision-support territory rather than a one-size-fits-all checklist, the right sequence depends on where you are in the process. The following steps are a general framework, not a directive to act on any particular date.

First, confirm the current status of Indiana's program directly with the Indiana Office of Energy Development, since rollout and application windows can change. Next, locate your county's AMI figure through HUD to estimate which eligibility band you fall into.

Then, request a load calculation and equipment quote from a contractor who works with cold-climate heat pumps and understands the rebate paperwork. Finally, compare the HEEHRA path against the 25C credit if your income sits above the 150% AMI line.

Above all, treat the state energy office and a qualified contractor as your sources of truth. The federal caps give you the ceiling; only Indiana's live program tells you what is available today.

Frequently Asked Questions

This article is for informational purposes and is not financial, tax, or legal advice. Confirm current rebate amounts, eligibility, and program status with the Indiana Office of Energy Development, and consult a licensed tax professional and a qualified HVAC contractor before acting.