SAN ANTONIO GUIDE

What CPS Energy pays toward a new air conditioner or heat pump

A replacement quote in San Antonio often arrives with a mention of a CPS Energy rebate. The rebate is real, it is published by the utility, and it is not the price of the job. For projects completed from February 1, 2026, through January 31, 2027, early replacement of a qualifying central air conditioner, central heat pump, or ductless mini-split pays from $115 to $310 per cooling ton, in five efficiency tiers. Replace-on-burnout pays less. The program can change or run out of funds. Read the utility page before you sign.

By Mike Maziarz · Sources checked October 12, 2026 · How we write these guides

Early replacement and replace on burnout

CPS Energy, the community-owned electric and gas utility, runs residential HVAC rebates under its Sustainable Tomorrow Energy Plan. The specifications page splits central air conditioners, central heat pumps, and ductless mini-splits into two paths. Early replacement pays more per cooling ton. Replace on burnout pays a lower schedule. Both paths use the same five efficiency tiers. Neither path is a discount this website arranges, and neither one is a bid for the equipment.

Early replacement has a strict list. The existing equipment must be operational. It must be less than 25 years old for central systems and less than 20 years old for heat pump systems. Photos and the model and serial numbers of the existing condenser, coil, and furnace have to be provided. If any of that is missing, or the system is not operational, or it is too old for the early-replacement age rule, the application is processed as replace on burnout. A contractor who says the higher amount is guaranteed, without photos of a working system, is ahead of the form.

The per-ton amounts, by efficiency tier

These figures are the early-replacement payouts published for central air conditioners, central heat pumps, and ductless mini-splits, per cooling ton, by SEER2 tier. Tier 1, 13.8 to 15.1 SEER2, is $115. Tier 2, 15.2 to 16.1, is $130. Tier 3, 16.2 to 17.0, is $175. Tier 4, 17.1 to 19.9, is $250. Tier 5, 20.0 SEER2 and above, is $310. The utility verifies the rating on the AHRI certificate, not on a sentence in an estimate.

Replace on burnout uses the same tier breaks and pays less: $90, $120, $150, $225, and $275 per cooling ton. A 3-ton system at a middle tier is not a number this page will multiply for you and call a quote. Tonnage itself is verified from cooling capacity on the certificate, using the conversion chart in the application. Ask the contractor for the AHRI certificate number and the tier they are claiming. Then compare that claim to the specifications page, because a rebate spoken in the driveway can be a tier the equipment does not earn.

The efficiency floor is not the same for every box

Qualifying is not only a matter of landing in a payout tier. The requirement chart sets minimums. A central air conditioner or mini-split air conditioner under 45,000 BTUh needs at least 14.3 SEER2 and 11.7 EER2. At 45,000 BTUh and above, the floor is 13.8 SEER2 and 11.2 EER2. A heat pump or mini-split heat pump needs at least 14.3 SEER2, 11.7 EER2, and 7.5 HSPF2. If the system is rated 15.2 SEER2 or higher, the minimum EER2 on that chart becomes 9.8, and heat pumps still have the 7.5 HSPF2 mark.

A system that misses the floor for its size does not get the lowest tier by default. The certificate has to match the condenser, the coil, and the furnace, or the air handler that stands in that indoor place on a heat pump job. A condenser-only swap is not what the form calls a full one-for-one replacement. If someone proposes changing the outdoor unit and leaving a tired indoor coil, ask whether that combination has a matching AHRI certificate. The refrigerant side of a mismatch is a separate problem, covered in refrigerant basics. The rebate side is whether the paperwork describes one complete system.

Whose house, whose contractor, and which permit

The terms limit the rebate to a residential CPS Energy account in the CPS Energy service area. The application describes a residential structure as a single-family home, up to a fourplex. New homes do not qualify under this rebate. The work has to be a home-improvement or retrofit project. The rebate will not exceed the cost of the project. It is paid as a bill credit or, if requested, as a check to the account holder, unless the account holder signs a payment release. If the payment goes to the contractor, the form says the discount has to appear as a credit on your invoice.

Every qualifying installation has to be done by an HVAC contractor licensed in Texas. The state lookup for air conditioning and refrigeration contractors is the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which is also the check in questions to ask before you hire. For projects inside San Antonio city limits, the application requires the permit number. Which office that permit comes from, city or county, depends on the address and is the subject of permits and inspections. A rebate form does not replace that local question. Alamo Heights and other cities are not the San Antonio permit desk, even when CPS Energy is the utility.

Dates, the 30-day filing rule, and money that can run out

The application terms say the project must be completed between February 1, 2026, and January 31, 2027. Applications and supporting documents must be filed within 30 days of completion. The first page of the form also says the application must be received within 30 days of installation. Waiting until you find the invoice in a drawer is how a finished job misses the window. The account holder signs the form. Missing model numbers, a missing AHRI certificate, or a missing permit number on a city job delays the file or knocks it into the lower path.

The same terms say rebates are first come, first served, that amounts and offerings can change or end without notice, and that the program ends when funds are depleted. A figure in this guide was checked against the utility pages on October 12, 2026. It is not a promise that the tier will still be open on the day you install. Before you accept a contract that treats the rebate as cash in hand, open the specifications page and the current application. If the numbers differ, the utility page wins.

How to use the rebate without confusing it for a price

Decide the repair-or-replace question first, on the equipment, not on the rebate. A single failed part on a system that still matches and still has parts is a repair. A coil that has failed twice, a compressor that is finished, or a system that cannot be matched is the replacement conversation in repair versus replace. The rebate does not make a bad match a good one, and it does not tell you what the contractor will charge. Labor, the attic, the line set, and the permit sit outside the per-ton table. Those factors, still with no invented prices, are in repair cost factors.

Heat pumps earn the same per-ton tiers as central air conditioners when they meet the heat-pump minimums, including 7.5 HSPF2. What a heat pump is being asked to do in this climate, mostly cooling with light heat, is in heat pump questions. Window units are a separate, smaller rebate on the specifications page: $50 or $75 for an ENERGY STAR unit that meets the capacity and efficiency table there, not a per-ton central payment. Submit the central or heat-pump application online through the CPS Energy rebate account, or use the paper form the rebate page links. This site does not file it for you.