What Being an APS Customer Means for Your HVAC Decisions
The 2026 answer nobody else will give you straight: APS no longer pays equipment rebates on new AC or heat pump installs — every residential energy-efficiency equipment rebate was discontinued January 1, 2026 under Arizona Corporation Commission Decision No. 81584. What's real for APS homes now: Cool Rewards thermostat bill credits, income-qualified HEAR rebates up to $8,000, and a 4–7 p.m. weekday peak window that quietly rewards the right equipment and the right thermostat strategy.
Which Valley homes are APS homes?
APS is Arizona's largest electric utility, and in Champion Air's core territory it runs deep: all of Buckeye and Goodyear, the entire Northwest Valley retirement belt — Sun City, Sun City West, Surprise, El Mirage, Waddell — plus the north foothill communities of Anthem, New River, Cave Creek, and Carefree, and Litchfield Park.
Then there are the split cities. Phoenix, Scottsdale, Glendale, Peoria, Chandler, Avondale, and Paradise Valley are divided between APS and SRP along the 1955 territorial agreement line — a boundary that follows old infrastructure, not city limits, and can change street by street. Avondale splits at the Agua Fria River (APS west, SRP east); most of Scottsdale north of the canal area is APS while south Scottsdale is SRP. You don't choose your utility — your address decides it — which is why we confirm it before any rebate line lands on a quote.
Verified Rebate Truth
Plenty of quote sheets around the Valley still carry an 'APS AC rebate' line. Those programs are dead — and carrying dated, source-linked figures is exactly why we publish this page. Here's everything that still exists for an APS household, verified against primary sources:
What APS actually pays in 2026 — and what it doesn't
Smart thermostat credits (APS Cool Rewards)
$50 + $35/yrAPS Cool Rewards · Utility bill credit
APS discontinued its residential equipment rebates on Jan 1, 2026 — Cool Rewards is what remains: a $50 one-time enrollment credit plus $35 per season for each enrolled smart thermostat that participates in summer conservation events.
Verified 2026-07-14 · APS Cool Rewards
First-time heat pump (Efficiency Arizona HEAR)
Up to $8,000Efficiency Arizona (federal HEAR) · Income-qualified rebate
Arizona's HEAR program pays up to $8,000 toward a first-time heat pump: 100% of project cost for households under 80% of area median income, 50% for households between 80–150% AMI ($14,000 lifetime program cap per household). Homes that already heat and cool with a heat pump are not eligible — it must replace gas, propane, oil, or electric-resistance heat.
Verified 2026-07-14 · Efficiency Arizona — HEAR program
Dead programs competitors still quote
- APS residential equipment rebates — ended 2026-01-01. Discontinued by Arizona Corporation Commission Decision No. 81584 (Dec 2025). Any quote sheet promising an 'APS AC rebate' in 2026 is out of date.
- Federal 25C energy-efficiency tax credit — ended 2025-12-31. The 25C credit (up to $2,000 on heat pumps) expired Dec 31, 2025 and does not apply to 2026 installations.
Rate Reality
APS's current time-of-use plans put the pain in one three-hour window: 4–7 p.m. on weekdays, year-round. The Arizona Corporation Commission shrank the old five-hour peak to three hours — easier to manage, but pricier per on-peak hour. What each plan means for your cooling:
How do APS peak hours change the HVAC math?
Time-of-Use 4pm–7pm Weekdays
On-peak 4–7 p.m. weekdays · winter super off-peak 10 a.m.–3 p.m.Energy costs more 4–7 p.m. Monday–Friday and less all other hours — weekends and a dozen holidays are entirely off-peak, and winter bills (Nov–Apr) add a super off-peak bargain window from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For cooling, the whole game is arriving at 4 p.m. already cool — which is what the supercooling strategy below is for.
Time-of-Use 4pm–7pm Weekdays with Demand Charge
Same windows + a monthly demand chargeSame clock, plus a monthly charge based on your single highest hour of usage during the 4–7 p.m. window. One hour of AC, oven, and dryer running together sets your demand charge for the month — so staggering big loads and pre-cooling matter twice on this plan.
Frozen legacy plans (Saver Choice Plus)
On-peak 3–8 p.m. weekdaysHouseholds still on the retired Saver Choice Plus plan keep the old 3–8 p.m. peak. If that's you, your pre-cool deadline is 3 p.m., not 4 — worth knowing before you copy a neighbor's thermostat schedule.
The 4 p.m. deadline: why APS homes supercool
With only three on-peak hours to beat, APS's plan structure is practically an invitation to pre-cool: run the AC harder in the cheap hours before 4 p.m., let the house coast through the expensive window, and resume normal cooling at 7. Done right, the AC barely runs during the only hours that cost real money — and your equipment does its hardest work earlier in the afternoon instead of at the day's brutal peak.
The technique — how far to pre-cool, what your insulation has to be able to hold, what it does to equipment runtime, and where it honestly disappoints — gets its own full guide.
Straight Answers
Common questions
Answered with verified program facts
Want the rebate math run for your actual address?
We confirm your utility before quoting, file qualifying rebates for you, and put every number in a written flat-rate quote.