Strip heat or a heat pump in Altamonte Springs
Converting electric strip heat to a heat pump is the single change Duke Energy publishes the most for — up to $1,000, against $500 for replacing an existing heat pump and $300 for a straight air conditioner. 72.4% of Altamonte Springs homes were built 1970–89, the era built around strip heat.
Why this city is full of strip heat
72.4% built 1970-89Altamonte Springs grew 401.7% between the 1970 and 1980 censuses, from 4,391 residents to 22,028. 72.4% of the city's 13,253 improved residential parcels — about 9,600 of them — were built between 1970 and 1989.
Central Florida houses from that wave were built around straight-cool air conditioning with electric resistance strip heat in the air handler. Strip heat is simple, cheap to install and roughly 100% efficient at converting electricity to heat — which sounds good until you realise a heat pump moves heat rather than making it and therefore delivers several times more heat per kilowatt hour.
That is why Duke Energy's largest published rebate is aimed at exactly this conversion, and why it fits Altamonte Springs better than any other city in Seminole County.
Seminole County Property Appraiser CAMA extract (Parcels.csv, 5 September 2026), tax district A1 — Altamonte Springs. 13,253 improved residential parcels: single-family, townhome and condominium. Apartments and manufactured homes excluded. Growth: 1970 and 1980 decennial censuses. County 1970s share: City of Altamonte Springs CITY PLAN 2030, Housing Element DIA, Table 3.4.
What the conversion is worth
Duke Energy publishes| What you are replacing | Published | Efficiency required |
|---|---|---|
| Electric strip heat → heat pump, higher tier | $1,000 | 16.8 SEER & 9.0 HSPF, or 16 SEER2 & 7.5 HSPF2 |
| Electric strip heat → heat pump | $600 | 16.0 SEER & 9.0 HSPF, or 15.2 SEER2 & 7.5 HSPF2 |
| Replace an existing heat pump | $500 | 16 SEER & 9.0 HSPF, or 15.2 SEER2 & 7.5 HSPF2 |
| Replace an existing air conditioner | $300 | 16 SEER or 15.2 SEER2 |
Read the top two rows. Both are strip heat to a heat pump. The difference between $600 and $1,000 is 16 SEER2 against 15.2 SEER2 — one step of efficiency on the same job.
Now read the bottom two. If your house already has a heat pump, the most you can earn is $500. If you are replacing a straight air conditioner with another straight air conditioner, $300. The strip-heat conversion is worth two to three times either of them, and this city has more candidates for it than any of its neighbours.
Duke Energy publishes these amounts. The page they come from is not scoped to a single state — its body also references the Carolinas, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. The Florida application portal confirms the program and the Home Energy Check prerequisite apply to Duke Energy Florida, but no Florida-scoped statement of these specific dollar figures was located. Rebate amounts change. Every figure here is dated, and Duke Energy on 800.254.8535 is the only authority on what is payable today.
Does a heat pump make sense in a climate with no winter?
3,452 CDD against 525 HDDCentral Florida records about 3,452 cooling degree days a year against 525 heating degree days on the NOAA 1991–2020 normals — cooling load close to seven times heating load, with an average annual temperature of 73°F.
A fair question follows: if you barely heat, why pay for heating efficiency? Two answers. First, a heat pump is the same machine running backwards, so you are not buying a separate heating system — you are buying an air conditioner that can also reverse. Second, the 525 heating degree days are not spread evenly; they arrive in a handful of cold snaps when every strip heater in the county draws at once.
The honest caveat: a heat pump's saving on 525 heating degree days is modest in absolute dollars. The rebate is the part that moves the arithmetic, and the rebate has an order of operations.
NOAA 1991–2020 US Climate Normals, Orlando International Airport (USW00012815).
Do this first or the rebate is gone
Home Energy CheckBefore you compare any of these numbers, read the rebate order of operations. Duke Energy requires a free Home Energy Check completed within the previous 24 months before the equipment is installed. Replace first and apply afterwards and the rebate is denied — up to $1,000 on the tier that fits most of this city.
Book the free Home Energy Check
Duke Energy requires a free Home Energy Check completed within the previous 24 months before it will pay ANY Home Energy Improvement rebate. It is free and it is the gate.
Get the quote and confirm the equipment qualifies
The rebate tier depends on the efficiency you install and on what you are replacing. Strip heat to a heat pump is the largest published tier; replacing a straight air conditioner with another one is the smallest.
Have the work done by a participating contractor
The installer has to be in Duke's participating-contractor program, and the permit still gets pulled and inspected the normal way.
Apply after installation, within the window
The improvement must be completed within 24 months of the assessment.
The order that gets you denied
Replace the system first, then apply for the rebate. There is no retroactive Home Energy Check. This is the mistake, and it costs up to $1,000.