Straight answers, no jargon

It's a New York State program, funded through NYSERDA, that pays for energy upgrades in income-qualified homes. Through Chazon Electric, that means a new electric heat-pump dryer plus the electrical work to support it — panel and wiring upgrades where they're needed — up to $7,340 per dwelling unit for households that qualify.

Chazon Electric is a participating contractor in the program. NYSERDA does not endorse, select, or guarantee any contractor.

For households at or below 80% of Area Median Income, the program covers the full cost of the eligible work, up to the program caps — so you pay $0 out-of-pocket for that work. For a household of 4 in NYC, that tier currently means an income of about $129,600 a year or less.

Households between 80% and 150% AMI are covered for 50% of the eligible cost — real savings, but not $0. For a household of 4, that tier currently reaches up to about $243,000.

Figures: HUD FY2025 (eff. 6/1/2025), NYC 5 boroughs · 2026 NYSERDA program year. These are estimates to orient you — NYSERDA confirms your household's tier from your documents, and the official NYSERDA income guidelines are always the binding source.

There are two ways in:

• By income — your household income falls at or below 150% of Area Median Income for your household size (the two tiers above).
• Automatically — someone in your household is enrolled in a qualifying assistance program (Medicaid, SNAP, HEAP, SSI, and others). Enrollment qualifies the household on its own, with no income paperwork.

Either route works. We'll tell you which one is simpler for your situation before anything is submitted.

Yes.Medicaid enrollment qualifies your household for the program automatically — it's one of the 12 assistance programs the program manual accepts as categorical eligibility. You don't need to document your income; proof of Medicaid enrollment does the job.

This trips people up constantly, so to be clear: being on Medicaid doesn't disqualify you — it's one of the easiest ways to qualify.

Yes. Renters can participate — the program just needs your landlord's sign-off on the work, called a landlord certification. We prepare that form and handle getting it signed, so you don't have to figure out the paperwork yourself.

Most of the timeline is document review, not construction. The flow: you apply, NYSERDA reviews your documents and issues an approval, then we schedule the work. The install itself is typically done in a day, with the inspection to follow.

The single biggest factor is how complete your paperwork is — applications that arrive with everything attached move much faster. We review your documents before submission for exactly that reason.

Yes — a permit is filed and an inspection is performed for every job. That's not red tape, it's the point: your upgrade is legal, on record, and checked by an inspector, done by a licensed & insured contractor. If a contractor offers to skip the permit, that's a problem you'd inherit when you sell or file an insurance claim.

Plan on gathering:

• Photo ID and something showing your address (a utility bill works).
• Proof of income for the household — or, if you qualify automatically, proof of enrollment in the assistance program (like a Medicaid card or award letter) instead.
• For renters: the landlord certification — we prepare it.
• Photos of your current dryer area and electrical panel. Don't stress about these — we take the required photos ourselves when we're on site.

We walk you through the list one item at a time — you're never left guessing what “proof of income” means for your situation.

Applying costs nothing and doesn't commit you to anything. You'll know your household's confirmed tier from NYSERDA before any work is scheduled, so there's no surprise at the end.