You may have heard about some of Xcel Energy’s rebates in Colorado right now. In short – there are lots of them.
These rebates cover pretty much all of the potential energy efficiency upgrades you can do to your home in order to save money on your bills, increase comfort, move away from gas (whole-home electrification), and you can even go full-netzero.
One of Xcel’s programs is called Whole Home Efficiency, where you can get a 25% rebate bonus on all the energy efficient upgrades you do (they must qualify) if you do a minimum of three projects in a two-year time period.
But where do you start? We know you’re busy, and it can be a lot to wade through. I wanted to write up an article that attempts to clearly outline the path so that you can maximize all the rebates possible, while at the same time, upgrading your home in a practical and affordable way that makes a real difference.
There is a lot of new and confusing information on their program, and in fact, they just changed them last week once again (as of early March 2025). This article is updated with the latest information that we are aware of. But please contact us for specifics to make sure any of this is still valid.
Let’s get into it!
What Is The Whole Home Efficiency Program?
This rebate program was put into place on top of the other Colorado / Xcel Energy efficiency rebates to incentivize homeowners to perhaps focus on a more holistic way to go about energy efficiency in their home.
They also help with the cost of these upgrades as Colorado State, the cities, counties, and utilities work towards a more electric future (mandates or not).
Most of the rebates are for a 25% rebate bonus on top of their regular-tier rebates for different equipment, but air sealing and insulation bonuses may differ a bit, because they depend on exact calculations of blower door test air tightness tests (before and after), and insulation depth (existing vs. new).
*Below you’ll see links to Xcel’s rebate summary sheets. They haven’t yet updated them with the new rebate levels, but know that many of these rebates just tripled for 2025.
New Xcel Energy Whole Home Efficiency Rebate Amounts
Some notable new standard rebates include:
- Up to $400 for qualified air sealing upgrades + a 150% bonus rebate ($600) through Xcel’s Clean Heat Plan
- Up to $350 for qualified wall insulation upgrades + a 150% bonus rebate ($525) through Xcel’s Clean Heat Plan
- Up to $500 for qualified attic insulation upgrades + a 150% bonus rebate ($750) through Xcel’s Clean Heat Plan
- Up to $2,250 per heating ton at 5F for a cold climate heat pump. Realistically this can mean up to $10,000 in rebates if your home requires that big of system, but it’s a custom calculation and based on specific engineering you heat pump contractor will have to do.
- $750 is the standard rebate, while there is an extra $1,500 currently through the Xcel Clean Heat Plan.
- $2,250 for a new heat pump water heater upgrade.
- $750 is the standard rebate, while there is an extra $1,500 currently through the Xcel Clean Heat Plan.
These numbers above are for the new standard rebates programs as an example, but the Xcel WHE program will add a 25% rebate bonus to the standard rebates (Not the bonus portion) if you do those three projects within a two year time period, and after getting an energy audit and signing up for the program.
Using the numbers above, this means that you can get these bonuses:
- Air Sealing – 25% rebate bonus on the $400 standard rebate ($100 extra)
- Attic Insulation – has it’s own new Whole Home Efficiency program rebate calculation – see the specific Xcel WHE Information Sheet for calculation.
- Wall Insulation – 25% rebate bonus on the $400 standard rebate ($87.50 extra)
- Cold Climate Heat Pump HVAC Upgrades – 25% rebate bonus on the $750 per heating ton standard rebate ($187.50 extra per heating ton at 5F).
- Heat Pump Water Heater Upgrades – 25% rebate bonus on the $750 per unit standard rebate ($187.50 extra).
There are more, but these new rebates are massive. Xcel is working to electrify 200,000 homes as part of their new Clean Heat Plan.
You can check out their Whole Home Efficiency Information Sheet Here. We hope to update this as soon as Xcel’s marketing department updates it (that’s what they told us).
Cold Climate Heat Pump Bonus Rebate Amounts
Because heat pump rebates are based on the size of unit you need from your home and it’s heating efficiency rating taken at 5 degrees Fahrenheit, the rebate can be highly variable. Here’s a table to better illustrate using an example.
| Heating BTU’s at 5F (12,000 BTU’s per ton) | Xcel Standard Rebate | Xcel Clean Heat Plan Bonus (Limited FUnds) | Xcel WHE Program 25% Bonus Rebate | Total Xcel Rebate at Heating BTU Level |
| 12.000 | $750 | $1,500 | $187.50 | $2,437.50 |
| 24,000 | $1,500 | $3,000 | $375 | $4,875 |
| 36,000 | $2,250 | $4,500 | $562.50 | $7,312.50 |
| 48,000 | $3,000 | $6,000 | $750 | $9,750 |
| 60,000 | $3,750 | $7,500 | $937.50 | $12,187.50 |
Another $600 Bonus Is Available For Timing Projects
Along with all of the above, there is an addition $600 available if you do the air sealing and insulation upgrades before the cold climate heat pump and/or heat pump water heater gets installed. This is verified with invoice dates and other ways.
As heat pump contractors ourselves – this involves coordinating with you as the homeowner and the other contractors doing work within the WHE program to make sure things are timed and installed in the correct order.
What Other Projects Can You Do Through The WHE Program?
Directly from the info sheet above, here is the latest table of projects you can do to qualify for the three necessary ones needed:
It can be a bit tricky to figure out with path to go with (we can help talk through that), but there are some different combinations you can do.
For example, one path might be air sealing, insulation, and then a heat pump to replace your existing boiler or furnace system, and if your starting point is a confirmed leaky home with low insulation levels (determined by the energy audit).
If you have a great starting point in terms of your building envelope (air tight home with great insulation), then maybe you could do 1) a heat pump HVAC system, 2) a heat pump water heater), and a new Energy Star washer or dryer if you like.
How Do You Qualify For The Rebate Bonus?
Xcel has a required prescriptive path you must take in order to qualify. Here are the major steps –
1) Get An Energy Audit
You must get an Xcel-approved Home Energy Audit to kick off the process. Without this, you cannot qualify.
So what’s the big deal with energy audits? When an energy auditor goes to your home, they do a thorough analysis of your interior, attic, crawlspace/basement, and all other areas to check for issues that lead to health issues and energy loss.
The energy audit model closely follows the BPI Certification standard, and also includes things like combustion appliance zone testing, infrared scans, and a blower door test.
As a sidenote – these tests are also critical in correctly designing heat pumps, because a tighter and better insulated home allows heat pumps to work way more efficiently and save energy doing.
This is a big reason why we’re also BPI-certified and on the Xcel approved contractors list for Home Energy Audits (Company: Just Heat Pumps). They all go hand-in-hand and lead to a much more comfortable home as well.
2) Sign Up On The Home Efficiency List
Once the home energy audit is done and registered with Xcel under your account number, it’s time to sign up.
You must sign up as a homeowner and it must be under the Xcel Energy account number (no dashes) that is tied to your exact home or unit.
And one other thing – only homeowners can receive the rebate money. If contractors tell you that they are the ones who get your rebate, they are incorrect.
Xcel-approved contractors, can however, sign you up for the program if they have your account number, just as a service so that you don’t have to spend time doing it. We like to do this for our customers as well.
3) Start Working With Approved Contractors To Install
Once you’re signed up from step two above, you have two years to complete a minimum of the three approved energy efficiency projects.
This is nice because it gives you some time for planning, getting proposals, and scheduling things as they fit your budget and so that you’re not in a rush.
Because this program isn’t that straightforward, again you must work with one of the WHE program approved contractors. This contractor does not have to be the one who does all the projects, however. In many situations they cannot be because they just can’t offer all the different services as a feasible business model.
An Example of How to Leverage This WHE Program
I wanted to include an example of what a good use of this program looks like, while keeping in mind budgets, a good decision-making process for how to go about the lowest hanging fruit in your home, and more.
This is coming from my own experience not only being a BPI Certified energy auditor, but being in sustainability my whole career, which include solar design, renovating net zero homes, and more. Much of the steps below have eligible equipment in the Xcel WHE list and will qualify for the rebate bonus.
Step 1) You’re interested in saving money, going green, getting off gas, solving comfort issues, taking advantage of all these rebates and tax credits, and more.
Step 2) In most cases you want to start with an energy audit anyway. These are $400 to $500 (or maybe less through Xcel’s Home Energy Squad Plus visit), but Xcel gives a $200 rebate back for this. So net it would cost $200 to $300. This is the best money you’ll spend.
The reason why is that it basically gives us an X-Ray of your home, where we can diagnose and figure out critical details on how to go about the holistic plan for your home combined with your own personal goals.
Without knowing what’s going on inside your home, we’re just guessing.
Step 3) Typically most homes have some heavy air sealing work to do. This is the next bang-for-the-buck project for most existing homes, and doesn’t cost that much.
Step 4) After that, we see if any insulation needs to be upgraded or if that fits the budget.
Step 5) We start looking at the mechanicals, such as water heaters, furnaces, boilers, air conditioners, and similar systems. We figure out together if it makes sense to upgrades or replace any of these.
Step 6) We then look at some more home electrification projects, like induction stoves, EV chargers, electrical panel upgrades (also called Heavy Ups), and more.
Step 7) Solar energy. This is a big one and often is done first by homeowners. We like to look at these last, because when you have all the steps above it figured out, you can then right-size the solar system.
When speaking to the Xcel WHE bonus rebate program, much of steps 1,2,3,4,5, and 6 are included in that.
It’s important to note that every home is different, and your plan and goals will be too. If you have questions about your own home and how to go about it, feel free to contact us here too!
Example 2: Air Sealing, Insulation, and a Heat Pump Upgrades (Real Numbers)
Let’s say you have an 1,800 square foot home along the Denver Front Range. You feel it’s old, leaky, has cold rooms, and your older gas water heater and A/C + Furnace combo is 15-20 years old and probably near end of life.
You could be a great candidate for all of these rebates!
Step 1: Get the energy audit. Our cost is around $450 for this, but you get $200 back from Xcel. Net cost = $250
Step 2: Sign up for the Xcel Whole Home Efficiency Program. Cost = Free
Step 3: Get quotes for some low-hanging-fruit air sealing and insulation. This could include some leaky spots around the house, and beefing up attic insulation. Estimated cost (for this example, every home is different) = $3,500.
Air Sealing and Insulation rebates might add up to $600, and the 25% WHE bonus rebate would be another $150, so rebates might add up to $750 total on the $3,500 cost. Net cost = $2,750
But you still need one more project at least!
This is a great chance to look into heat pumps.
Step 4: Install heat pump water heater. These can run $5,000 to $8,000 depending on the installation and size, but Xcel’s standard HPWH rebate is $2,250 to help with this. The 25% bonus rebate would add $187.50, giving you a total rebate of $2,437.50.
And don’t forget! If you do only the heat pump water heater, there’s still a Federal 25C tax credit of maximum $2,000 per year.
This would bring the total HPWH (heat pump water heater) rebates/tax credit total to near $5,000 including the Colorado State heat pump water heater of $500. There’s even more if you live in Boulder City and/or County and other cities.
Step 5: Install a Cold Climate Rated Heat Pump HVAC System
This is the biggest and most involved project, but you can also get the most rebates. If you’re looking to replace your older boiler/furnace and A/C combo, this is a great time to look into the ccASHP (cold climate air source heat pump). This can be either mini splits or ducted systems.
Your heat pump contractor must do a lot of calculation, design, and sizing on the front end, and they need to make sure the heat pump equipment meets very strict efficiency standards. In short – this means the unit will work down to below negative temperatures.
Let’s say the energy modeling calculations show you need a 3 ton (36,000 BTU) heat pump at 5F. This would equate to a 3 x $2,250 per heating ton at 5F (Xcel’s heat pump calculation) = $6,750 total standard + Clean Heat Plan bonus heat pump rebate.
The WHE program rebate adds 25% to this, or another $187.50 per heating ton, making the total heat pump rebate $2,437.50 per heating ton!
This example 3 ton cold climate heat pump would get a total of 3 * $2,437.50 = a $7,312.50 rebate!
In total between all the programs, your rebates would add up to over $10,000 in this example.
The incentives are truly incredible, but you have to follow the plan, work with an approved Xcel trade partner/contractor, and much else.
4) Submit the Projects and Collect Your Rebate
Once your projects are installed, and you have proof of it (invoices, payment proof, etc), you can submit that to Xcel under your original signup into the program.
It might take a few weeks to process, but you then get the rebate sent directly to you (as the homeowner).
Your WHE contractor may need to verify the installs and improvements, which include a new blower door test, CAZ testing, and in-person verification in order for Xcel to approve of your bonus rebates. We also call this Test Out in the energy auditor/blower door test world.
Final Thoughts
Without trying to make this too much longer, I hope this article helps sort out how to go about the program. Here are some additional resources and links as well:
Xcel’s link to a bit more information on the rebate process here.
Xcel’s Home Energy Auditor Approved Contractor List (we – Just Heat Pumps – are BPI certified energy auditors as well and we can help you with this if you like, along with heat pump projects as well).
Xcel’s Whole Home Efficiency Approved Contractor List
If you have any more questions on this program, feel stuck, or if you need a WHE contractor to help kick start this one for you, feel free to reach out.
Where we can help you specifically is the energy audit first step, and of course heat pump installations, and more.
Thanks so much.
