Nassau County heats expensively. A huge share of the housing stock between Hempstead and the South Shore still burns oil delivered by truck, the electric grid is an island grid with island prices, and the winters are real. What most Nassau homeowners have not caught up to is that New York State is currently offering to pay the majority of a heat pump conversion, the offer is live in 2026, and on Long Island it runs through one administrator: PSEG Long Island.
This guide lays out every dollar, how it reaches your invoice, and the one procedural rule that decides whether you ever collect it.
The Headline Program: NYS Clean Heat
New York's flagship heat pump incentive is NYS Clean Heat, a state-funded program delivered through six utility administrators. For Hempstead, Levittown, Freeport, Long Beach, and every other address in the Nassau carve, the administrator is PSEG Long Island, because PSEG Long Island is the electric utility for the territory.
The 2026 numbers:
| Feature | Value |
|---|---|
| Air-source heat pump incentive | Up to $12,000 per household |
| Cost cap, standard tier | 70% of total project cost |
| Cost cap, enhanced | 85% in Disadvantaged Communities or Weatherized Tier |
| Income-eligible tier (EmPower+) | Up to $24,000 at 85% of cost |
| Eligible buildings | 1-4 unit homes (as of 1/1/2026) |
| Qualifying equipment | ccASHP on the NYS Clean Heat / NEEP-qualified list |
| Geothermal | Separate, higher incentive |
Two caps operate at once, and your incentive is the lower of the two: the $12,000 household cap or 70 percent of what the project actually costs. On smaller projects the percentage cap binds first; on larger whole-home conversions the household cap does. Either way, the state is offering to carry most of a qualifying installation before you pay a dollar.
EmPower+: The Tier That Doubles the Ceiling
Income-eligible households qualify for an enhanced tier through EmPower+: up to $24,000 at an 85 percent cost cap. This is not a bonus stacked on top of the standard incentive. It replaces the standard tier on the same project, and for a qualifying household it is dramatically better money.
On a typical whole-home conversion, the difference between tiers is the difference between paying roughly a third of the project and paying closer to a sixth. If there is any chance your household qualifies, screen for EmPower+ before anyone sizes a system, because the answer can change what is worth building.
The Federal Money Is Gone, and the State Money Is Better Anyway
Clear the record on the dollars that no longer exist. The federal 25C and 25D tax credits ended December 31, 2025, and the DOE HEAR program is dead. Nothing federal applies to a 2026 Long Island installation.
That matters twice. First, any stack math you read online that still carries a federal line is out of date; the state program above is the entire stack. Second, it is a vetting instrument: a contractor who quotes a federal credit as live money for a 2026 install is running on stale information, and our guide to choosing a Hempstead HVAC contractor treats that as a disqualifying red flag.
Structurally, the state money beats the old credit on its own terms. A tax credit arrived a year later, on your return, and only if you had the liability to absorb it. NYS Clean Heat arrives as a discount on the invoice before you pay.
The Rule That Decides Everything
Here is the procedural fact that determines whether the $12,000 exists for your project: the incentive is typically assigned to and applied by a NYS Clean Heat participating contractor as a project discount.
You do not file for this money. You do not front the cash and wait months for a rebate check. The participating contractor applies the discount to your invoice and handles the program paperwork. Which means a contractor who is not enrolled cannot deliver the incentive at all, no matter how sharp their price looks or how long they have worked your block. The first question for every Nassau bidder, before price, before brand: are you a NYS Clean Heat participating contractor?
Worked Example: A Levittown Cape
Take an illustrative Levittown cape converting to a qualified-list cold-climate system:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Installed price | $19,000 |
| 70% cost cap | $13,300 |
| Household cap | $12,000 |
| Incentive applied (lower of the two) | $12,000 |
| Net out-of-pocket | $7,000 |
On this project the household cap binds before the percentage cap, so $12,000 comes off the invoice. If the same household qualified for EmPower+, the math runs at 85 percent up to $24,000: $16,150 applied, and a net of $2,850 on a $19,000 project.
Illustrative figures, not quotes. Real prices vary by house and system, and our installation cost guide breaks out the gross ranges by system type. The structure of the math, two caps with the lower one governing, holds from Valley Stream to Massapequa.
Equipment: The Qualified List Is the Gate
The full incentive pays only on cold-climate air-source heat pumps (ccASHP) that appear on the NYS Clean Heat / NEEP-qualified equipment list, ducted or ductless. This is not bureaucratic box-checking. Hempstead sits on a -3F heating design temperature, and the qualified list exists to screen for machines that still deliver real heat on nights like that. Off-list equipment loses twice: winter performance and the incentive itself.
The equipment side has its own guide: the best cold-weather heat pumps for Hempstead covers what the low-temperature ratings mean and what to demand in writing on a quote.
Your Claim Path, Compressed
- Confirm your utility. Across the Nassau carve, from Garden City to Oceanside, that is PSEG Long Island; the bill settles it.
- Read the source if you like: cleanheat.ny.gov and nyserda.ny.gov carry the program's own pages.
- Screen for EmPower+ income eligibility before anyone sizes anything.
- Get two or three quotes, exclusively from NYS Clean Heat participating contractors.
- Require the incentive as a line item on every quote: gross price, discount, net price.
That is the whole process. The contractor does the filing; your job is choosing a contractor who can, and holding every bid to the same written standard so the discounts are comparable across the table rather than promised in the air. If you currently heat with oil, as an enormous share of Nassau still does, run the operating math too: the oil comparison guide covers what the switch does to a winter's spend.
Get Your Free Hempstead Quote
Start your free quote: two minutes, free, no obligation. You will be matched with NYS Clean Heat participating contractors serving Nassau County who quote qualified-list equipment and put the incentive on the invoice as a discount, where you can verify it before you sign.