Equipment
Heat pump vs electric strip heat in Longwood, FL
If your air handler still heats with electric resistance strips, converting to a heat pump is the change Duke Energy publishes its largest rebates for — $600 or $1,000 depending on efficiency, against $300 for replacing a plain air conditioner. Two thirds of Longwood's housing stock dates from the strip-heat era.
The money, first
Why the strip-heat conversion is the biggest tier
| What you are replacing | Published amount | Efficiency required |
|---|---|---|
| Electric strip heat → heat pump | $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 |
| Replacing an existing heat pump | $500 | 16 SEER & 9.0 HSPF, or 15.2 SEER2 & 7.5 HSPF2 |
| Replacing an existing air conditioner | $300 | 16 SEER, or 15.2 SEER2 |
Presented as Duke Energy publishes rather than Duke Energy Florida pays: the amounts page these tiers come from is not scoped to a single state. The Florida application portal confirms the programme and the Home Energy Check prerequisite apply to Duke Energy Florida.
What you probably have
One to one, versus moving heat
Electric resistance strip heat is a heating element in the air handler: it converts electricity to heat at one to one. A heat pump moves heat instead of making it, which in a climate that barely freezes is several times more efficient over a winter. In Longwood the heating season is short — average annual temperature near 73°F — so the saving per year is modest, and it is the rebate plus the efficiency of the cooling side that actually carries the decision.
How to tell what you have: look at the air handler's breaker or the electrical panel. A large double breaker feeding the air handler, often 60 amp, usually means strip heat. So does an outdoor unit labelled as an air conditioner rather than a heat pump, paired with an air handler that has a heat kit. If in doubt, the model number on both units settles it.
- Parcels built 1970–89
- 66.5% of 4,962
- Median build year
- 1979
- Strip heat → heat pump
- $600 or $1,000 published
- Heat pump → heat pump
- $500 published
- AC → AC
- $300 published
- Prerequisite
- Home Energy Check within 24 months
Why this is a Longwood question
Two thirds of the city was built in the strip-heat era
Duke Energy requires a free Home Energy Check completed within the previous 24 months before it will pay any Home Energy Improvement rebate, and the work has to have been recommended by that check. Replace the system first and apply afterwards and the claim is denied — there is no retrospective route. Duke also requires that the whole home is heated and cooled electrically, that the installer is a licensed and insured air conditioning contractor, and that the work is approved by a licensed city or county inspector. On a Longwood job that last condition is the City permit and the passed mechanical final, which makes the permit a rebate requirement and not just a legal one.
Longwood's housing stock is why this page exists at all. Of 4,962 improved residential parcels, 66.5% were built between 1970 and 1989 — the period when an air handler with a strip heat kit was the default residential installation. Neighbourhoods like Longwood Hills, built across 1970–1984, can hold a straight-cool system with strip heat next door to a later heat pump conversion. That makes the strip-heat tier a live, checkable question on most streets here rather than a national generality.
Sources
- Duke Energy, Home Energy Improvement — HVAC Replacement. https://www.duke-energy.com/home/products/home-energy-improvement/hvac-replacement
- Duke Energy Florida rebate application portal. https://www.dukeenergyrebates.com/florida/#/home
- Duke Energy news release, 9 June 2025 — expanded Florida home improvement rebates. https://news.duke-energy.com/releases/duke-energy-expands-home-improvement-rebate-program-to-help-florida-customers-save-energy-and-money-this-summer
- Seminole County Property Appraiser CAMA extract (Parcels.csv, dated 5 September 2026), tax district L1 — Longwood; improved residential parcels, DOR codes 01 and 04. https://www.scpafl.org/
- NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Orlando station. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/land-based-station/us-climate-normals
- U.S. DOE, 2023 Central Air Conditioner Standards FAQ. https://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/pdfs/2023_CAC_Standards_FAQ_10-5-2022_Final.pdf
Figures are dated. Permit fees, rebate amounts and code cycles change — re-check the primary source before you rely on a number here.
Check the breaker before you shop
If the air handler is fed by a large double breaker, you probably have strip heat — and the biggest published rebate is on the table.