Federal incentives for home energy improvements are running out at the end of the year, so it's decision time for anyone who has been thinking about a heat pump. The right decision can depend on where you live, how much you have to spend and how deeply you want to cut emissions.

But the payoff can be significant.

Bill Gerosa was spending about $6,700 annually to heat and cool his house about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of New York City. He was eager to bring down his costs, and shelled out $13,000 for a ground-source heat pump that was made more affordable by significant state and utility incentives.

“I had to prove to myself and to my wife that I wasn’t doing something monumentally stupid,” he said.

Gerosa's monthly energy use plunged by two-thirds. He installed solar panels at the

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