Switching From Oil Heat to a Heat Pump in York County

Plenty of York County still heats with oil. About one home in eight in the county burns fuel oil, roughly 22,800 houses (US Census ACS 2020-2024), and it’s more common off the gas lines. Delta has no utility gas in the Census sample and oil is its leading heating fuel, and about a fifth of homes in Dillsburg heat with oil (US Census ACS 2020-2024). If you’re one of them and wondering about a heat pump, here’s what I’d want to know before signing anything, including the tax credit that a lot of sales pitches still mention and that no longer exists.

Cold-Climate Heat Pumps Work Here

The old line about heat pumps quitting in the cold is out of date. ENERGY STAR now tests its certified air-source heat pumps down to 5°F, and it tells homeowners in cold places to ask for an ENERGY STAR certified cold climate model. Those keep running below 5°F, though ENERGY STAR notes a backup heat source can be the more efficient choice when it gets that cold (ENERGY STAR air-source heat pumps).

How the heat gets into the house is the bigger question. A ducted heat pump uses existing ductwork, so a house with an oil furnace and ducts has an easier path. Many older houses with oil boilers have radiators or baseboard and no ducts at all, and for those, ENERGY STAR points to ductless mini-splits, which heat and cool part of a house through wall units (ENERGY STAR heat pump fact sheet). In a prewar house in Delta or the old part of Dillsburg, that usually means a few indoor heads and some decisions about which rooms matter most.

Keeping Oil as a Backup

You don’t have to rip out the oil system on day one. ENERGY STAR describes a dual-fuel setup, where a heat pump is paired with a furnace and the system uses whichever makes more sense for the weather and the cost, and it says homes heating with oil or propane may benefit (ENERGY STAR heat pump fact sheet). With a boiler, the more common version is mini-splits for most of the season with the boiler kept for the coldest stretches.

The appeal is that you’re not betting the whole winter on one new system. The trade-off is that you still have a tank, a burner to service, and oil deliveries to schedule, even if there are fewer of them. Keeping the boiler for a winter or two while you see how the heat pump handles your house is a reasonable way to decide what comes out later.

What It Costs

I couldn’t find a published cost survey for York County, so here’s the most careful national figure I found. Rewiring America’s March 2024 report, built from tens of thousands of installs in Massachusetts and California programs, put a whole-home heat pump for a 1,500 to 2,500 square foot house at about $17,000 to $23,000 before incentives, and a single-zone ductless mini-split at about $5,400 to $8,500 (Rewiring America, 2024). Those are ranges, not quotes. The same report says hybrid systems that keep a fossil fuel backup cost less than full replacements, and that colder climates tend toward the high end.

What moves your number is the house: the ductwork or lack of it, how many rooms need a head, whether the electric panel can take the load, and how leaky the place is. Air sealing and insulation make a heat pump smaller and cheaper to run, so it’s worth doing first. You’ll find insulation contractors on our /drywall-insulation/ page.

The Federal Tax Credit Is Gone

This one is simple, so I’ll say it plainly. The federal Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit, known as 25C, which covered heat pumps, ended. The IRS says the credit “will not be allowed for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025” (IRS FS-2025-05, August 2025; IRS Form 5695 instructions, 2025). A heat pump installed in 2026 doesn’t qualify. If a contractor’s quote counts on a federal tax credit, ask them to show you where it comes from.

Utility Rebates Depend on Your Electric Company

Met-Ed serves much of York County, including the City of York (Met-Ed tariff). PPL serves East Prospect, Wrightsville, and Fairview, Hellam and Lower Windsor townships (PPL territory). Some rural areas are on Adams Electric Cooperative, which Jackson Township lists alongside Met-Ed (Jackson Township). Check your bill.

PPL’s current air-source heat pump rebate, running June 2026 through May 2031, pays $225 or $325 depending on efficiency, more for income-qualified households, and must be applied for within 180 days of installation (PPL rebate form, 2026). Met-Ed’s previous HVAC rebate ended with installs through March 31, 2026 (FirstEnergy PA rebate form), and when I checked in October, FirstEnergy’s Pennsylvania page said it was “working to finalize new programs” with no amounts posted (FirstEnergy PA). Look again before you buy, and ask the co-op directly if you’re on Adams Electric.

The Old Oil Tank

Pennsylvania’s underground storage tank rules leave out tanks that hold heating oil used on the property (25 Pa. Code § 977.4), so there isn’t one statewide checklist for taking a house tank out of service. That doesn’t mean anything goes. Some townships require a permit to remove or abandon a residential oil tank; Lower Makefield in Bucks County is one (Lower Makefield Township). Start with your borough or township office.

For a buried tank, DEP’s advice is to:

1. Get written quotes from at least two environmental professionals.
2. Make sure whoever digs calls PA One Call first.
3. Have the tank inspected for holes and corrosion once it’s out, and call your regional DEP office if there’s any sign of contamination.
4. Remove or grout the fill pipe and vent line so nobody delivers oil to a tank that isn’t there, and tell your last oil company it’s gone.

(PA DEP residential home heating oil)

If a buried tank of 3,000 gallons or less has leaked, DEP has a reimbursement program for cleanup: you pay the first $1,000 and can get up to $4,000 back, while funds last, through December 31, 2027. It doesn’t cover basement or other aboveground tanks, and it doesn’t pay to pull a tank that didn’t leak (PA DEP cleanup reimbursement).

What to Ask the Installer

• Will you do a Manual J load calculation on this house? ENERGY STAR says a contractor should size the system that way.
• Is this an ENERGY STAR certified cold climate model, and does it qualify for my utility’s rebate tier?
• How will it work with my boiler or furnace, and who sets the switchover?
• Does my electric panel need work, and is that in the price?
• Who pulls the mechanical and electrical permits?

Get two or three quotes, and make sure each one is pricing the same house. If one quote is far lower, check whether it skipped the load calculation, the panel or the permits, because those are the pieces that tend to show up later as change orders.