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Sunny HVAC Rep Guide
05 The Home

Home type & meter rules

Rebate eligibility is one of the most misunderstood parts of decommissioning. Reps lose money by miscounting meters or assuming family-type designation drives the rebate.

The core rule

Section titled “The core rule”

The rebate is based on the number of meters in the home — not the family-type designation, not the unit count.

Con Edison treats a home as the family type that matches its meter count.

Examples

Section titled “Examples”

Example 1 — 4-family zoning, 2 meters

Section titled “Example 1 — 4-family zoning, 2 meters”

A house is zoned and registered as a 4-family. But there are only 2 meters in the basement.

  • Con Edison treats it as a 2-family
  • Rebate: $4,000 × 2 = $8,000
  • Even though the home has 4 units, only 2 credits apply

Example 2 — 2-family zoning, 2 meters

Section titled “Example 2 — 2-family zoning, 2 meters”

Standard alignment. 2-family = $8,000 credit.

Example 3 — Single-family

Section titled “Example 3 — Single-family”

1 meter = $4,000 credit. Plus financing room — see NYSERDA cap logic below.

What does not count

Section titled “What does not count”

PLPs (private legal porches/units) do not count toward the rebate. Don’t include them when calculating expected credit.

Basement units do not count toward the rebate. Same as PLPs.

How to verify meter count at the sales appointment

Section titled “How to verify meter count at the sales appointment”
  • Find the meter bank (usually basement, sometimes outside)
  • Count physical electric meters
  • Don’t trust the homeowner’s description of “this is a 4-family”
  • The number of physical meters is what Con Edison sees

NYSERDA cap logic

Section titled “NYSERDA cap logic”

NYSERDA / EFS financing caps at $13,000 after rebate. The total job size can exceed $13K because the rebate stacks on top.

Example — single-family non-DAC:

  • $13,000 financed via NYSERDA
  • $8,000 rebate (Clean Heat for non-DAC single-family)
  • = $21,000 total job

The exact numbers depend on:

  • Number of meters (drives the rebate)
  • DAC status (Disadvantaged Community designation — does NOT increase the NYSERDA $13K cap, but affects rebate amounts)
  • Home type and other factors

Why DAC doesn’t help on NYSERDA cap

Section titled “Why DAC doesn’t help on NYSERDA cap”

DAC homes get higher rebates, but NYSERDA still only finances $13,000. They won’t increase that cap regardless of DAC status.

The only way to push past $13K financed via NYSERDA is to use 35 SEER units instead of standard 20-21 SEER units — but those are expensive and the profit ratio is lower than standard units. Generally not worth it.

For non-decommissioning jobs (or when NYSERDA isn’t right), use: