Hot water rebates and running costs in Queensland
No state scheme, but the cheapest off-peak hot water tariff in Australia.
What a hot water system costs to run in Queensland, what you can claim towards replacing it, and the local facts that change the answer here — the tariff structure, the climate and the grid.
What you can claim in Queensland
Federal Small-scale Technology Certificates
$800–$1,200 off an eligible heat pump or solar thermal system
Available in every state. The installer claims the certificates and discounts your quote, so there is nothing for you to lodge. Queensland sits in STC Zone 3. Gas and electric resistance systems create no certificates.
Administered by the Clean Energy Regulator. Official scheme page. Last verified 5 September 2026.
There is no Queensland hot water rebate
As at 5 September 2026, Queensland runs no state-level rebate for replacing a hot water system. The federal Small-scale Technology Certificate scheme applies here as it does everywhere, and is worth roughly $800 to $1,200 off an eligible heat pump or solar thermal system.
That is the complete answer, and it is worth stating plainly rather than burying: if you have been searching for a Queensland hot water rebate and finding only installer pages that imply one exists, this is why.
Why Queensland is different
Queensland has no state hot water rebate. The federal certificates are the whole story here, worth roughly $800 to $1,200 off a heat pump, and saying that plainly is more use than a page of hedging.
What Queensland does have is the cheapest controlled load tariff in the country at 16.4c per kilowatt hour — a third less than the standard rate and cheaper than any other state's off-peak. If you already have an electric storage tank on a controlled load circuit, the case for replacing it is weaker in Queensland than almost anywhere else, because the tariff is already doing much of the work a heat pump would do.
The climate helps too. Brisbane's mild winters mean a heat pump manages an effective coefficient of performance of about 2.39 here, better than every state except the Northern Territory, and the cold water coming into the house is already at about 20.8 °C against Hobart's 13.1 — so there is simply less work to do. A Queensland household heats its water with roughly 30% less energy than a Tasmanian one of the same size.
Two Queensland-specific notes on price. The figures here use Energex, covering the south-east. Regional Queensland is served by Ergon under a Queensland Competition Authority determination at 28.9c/kWh with a lower daily supply charge. And reticulated natural gas reaches a minority of Queensland homes — outside the south-east, "gas" usually means bottled LPG, which is roughly three times the price per megajoule.
Every system at Queensland prices
A three-person household using 120 litres of hot water a day, at Queensland's reference rates and the Brisbane climate. On these assumptions the cheapest system to run in Queensland is solar thermal with gas boost at about $273 a year.
| System | Cost per year | Rebates | 10-year total | CO₂e a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solar thermal with gas boost | $273 | −$800 | $8,434 | 147 kg |
| Heat pump | $336 | −$800 | $7,205 | 683 kg |
| Gas instantaneous | $365 | — | $6,004 | 466 kg |
| Solar thermal with electric boost | $391 | −$800 | $9,612 | 793 kg |
| Gas storage | $453 | — | $6,925 | 645 kg |
| LPG instantaneous | $653 | — | $8,876 | 541 kg |
| Electric storage | $742 | — | $9,323 | 1776 kg |
| LPG storage | $962 | — | $12,020 | 758 kg |
A three-person household in Queensland using 120 litres of hot water a day, at 28.0c/kWh and 2.45c/MJ for gas, with the Brisbane climate and the Queensland grid's emissions factor of 0.67 kg CO₂e per kWh. Change any of it in the calculator.
Your own household will differ. Put your bill figures into the calculator and every number above recalculates.
The certificate value is falling every January
The federal scheme is winding down on a fixed schedule. Certificates are deemed over a period that shortens by one year every 1 January, and the scheme ends in 2030 — so the same system installed in Queensland in December earns about a fifth more than it would a few weeks later.
| Install year | Deeming period | Indicative value |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 6 years | — |
| 2026 (now) | 5 years | $800–$1,200 |
| 2027 | 4 years | $640–$960 |
| 2028 | 3 years | $480–$720 |
| 2029 | 2 years | $320–$480 |
| 2030 | 1 years | $160–$240 |
The certificates a heat pump creates are deemed over a period that shortens by one year every 1 January until the scheme ends in 2030. Waiting from December to January costs about a fifth of the discount, for exactly the same system. It is the one piece of timing advice on this site that is worth acting on.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest hot water system to run in Queensland?
On our figures, solar thermal with gas boost, at about $273 a year for a three-person household using 120 litres a day at Queensland's reference rates. It has the lowest running cost of anything available here, but also the highest installed cost, so check the ten-year column in the table above before deciding.
How much is a heat pump rebate worth in Queensland?
$800 to $1,200 — the federal certificates only, because Queensland runs no state hot water rebate. The exact figure depends on the system's capacity, your postcode's STC zone and the traded certificate price on the day, so it will only be pinned down on an accredited installer's quote.
What does electricity cost in Queensland?
The reference rate is 28.0c per kilowatt hour with a daily supply charge of $1.92, from the AER Default Market Offer 2026–27 (DMO 8) effective 1 July 2026. A controlled load circuit for hot water is available at 16.4c. Market offers from retailers are frequently below the reference rate — use your own bill figure in the calculator rather than ours.
Does a heat pump work properly in the Brisbane climate?
Yes, though how well varies. On our model a heat pump in Queensland achieves an effective annual coefficient of performance of about 2.39 against a nameplate figure of 3.2 — close to the national middle. Even at the bottom of that range it uses less than half the electricity of a resistance element, which is why it remains the cheapest electric option in every Australian jurisdiction.