If I Have the Cash, Should I Still Finance Geothermal in Oklahoma?

I am Dave Hartzell. I have been in HVAC for 47 years and I have run Hartzell’s Heat & Air out of Kingfisher for 15+ years. I get this question from the people with the money, and nobody answers it straight.

First, the part that costs me the sale if I get it wrong

Geothermal is a premium purchase. It costs more up front than a furnace or an air source heat pump. Meaningfully more, because there is a ground loop the other two do not have. Anybody selling it as the cheap option is confused.

So the question is not “can I afford this.” You already know that answer. The real question is what this money earns you here versus where it sits now. Cash in an account is doing something. Cash in a ground loop is doing something else, and one of them stops your utility taking a bite every month.

The federal residential tax credit is expired. Read this before you keep waiting.

The federal residential geothermal tax credit, Section 25D, is gone. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act terminated it for expenditures after December 31, 2025. There is no federal residential geothermal tax credit for a system placed in service in 2026.

I am not telling you to check whether you qualify. That advice is misleading now, because there is nothing left to qualify for on the residential side.

There is a trap here that catches careful people. Paying in 2025 does not preserve the credit if the install finishes in 2026. The expenditure counts when the installation is completed, not when the check clears, and IRS Fact Sheet FS-2025-05 spells that out. A December deposit on a system that goes in the ground in spring does not save it.

I have talked to homeowners sitting on their hands waiting for that credit to come back. Nothing in the law that ended it schedules it to return. Your tax professional still matters, for your own situation and how rebate money is handled on your return. Not for whether the federal residential credit exists. That is settled.

Now the money that is actually real

What died was a tax credit, which comes off your tax liability months later when you file. What is available now is a rebate, money tied to the job itself. A rebate does not care what your tax position looks like in April.

CKenergy pays $2,000 per ton, on new installs and retrofits, effective January 1, 2026, with a $24,000 per member cap. On a 4 ton system that is $8,000. That is for CKenergy members specifically, and it is the strongest geothermal number an Oklahoma homeowner has.

Other co-ops publish their own, and it always depends on your co-op:

If you are on OEC, CVEC or KPWA, I have not verified their 2026 amounts and I will not quote a number I cannot stand behind. Call me and I will get your co-op on the phone. The one I walk most often is the CKenergy rebate for 2026.

The asymmetry that makes geothermal work

The ground loop has a 50 year design life. The equipment does not. A conventional system is a repeating purchase, roughly every 15 years, as long as you own the house. Geothermal is one loop plus much smaller equipment swaps later.

Compare these two over the life of the loop, not over one equipment cycle. Judging geothermal on a 15 year window is like judging a metal roof over its first ten years. Geothermal ROI in Oklahoma lays that out, and geothermal cost in Oklahoma for 2026 covers the up front number.

What that money buys you every month

Geothermal cuts roughly 50% of HVAC energy use, the heating and cooling portion of what your house consumes. It is not half your bill, and I will not let anybody sell it that way, because your bill also carries a water heater, lights and everything plugged into a wall.

The reason is physics. An air source system fights 105 degree air in July and 15 degree in January. A ground loop trades heat with dirt that holds its temperature all year. At a COP of 4.5 that is about $4.50 of heat for every $1 of electricity.

Run your own numbers instead of mine: the geothermal savings calculator uses your house, and is geothermal worth it in Oklahoma is the honest version.

So should a cash buyer finance it anyway?

Synchrony offers up to 18 months at 0%. Read that plainly: for up to 18 months, borrowing the money costs nothing.

If borrowing is free, handing over your cash on day one buys you nothing that financing does not. Same system, same install, same comfort. What cash costs you is the use of your own money for a year and a half, with no offsetting benefit. The rebate lands either way.

That is reasoning, not a hard sell. Plenty of people hate carrying a payment, and peace of mind is worth buying. I just want it to be a decision you made on purpose, not a reflex.

The five lenders I work with

These five, and nothing else. I do not invent lenders or quote rates I cannot back up.

• Synchrony, up to 18 months at 0%.
• Wells Fargo.
• Wisetack, soft credit pull to pre-qualify, so checking does not touch your score. Around 80% approval, good on smaller tickets.
• Klarna, 4 interest free payments over 6 weeks.
• JB Financing, routes through 30+ lenders, works with credit scores as low as 590, soft pull, around 75% approval.

Financing is not just for new systems. It covers repairs, plans, thermostats and air cleaners. Full breakdown on geothermal financing in Oklahoma.

There is also a $0 down lease option, and I can pre-qualify you. I am not going to publish a monthly payment, a term, or a buyout figure on a web page, because those move with the system and the house. Call me and I will walk you through them.

Questions I get from cash buyers

Is there a federal tax credit for residential geothermal in Oklahoma in 2026?

No. Section 25D was terminated by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act for expenditures after December 31, 2025, so there is no federal residential geothermal tax credit for a system placed in service in 2026. Paying in 2025 does not preserve it if the install finishes in 2026, per IRS Fact Sheet FS-2025-05. Do not wait on it returning. Look at your co-op rebate instead, which is real money and is not a tax credit.

How much is the CKenergy geothermal rebate in Oklahoma?

CKenergy pays $2,000 per ton on new installs and retrofits, effective January 1, 2026, capped at $24,000 per member. On a 4 ton system that is $8,000, for CKenergy members specifically. Other co-ops publish different amounts, so it depends on your co-op.

Should I pay cash for geothermal or finance it if I have the money?

If you can get up to 18 months at 0% through Synchrony, borrowing costs nothing for that stretch, so paying cash up front carries a real opportunity cost and no offsetting benefit. The system, the install and the rebate are identical either way. The exception is if carrying a payment bothers you.

How much does a geothermal diagnostic cost in Kingfisher Oklahoma?

A geothermal diagnostic is $348 flat, any hour, weekday or after hours. That covers a full performance audit and a written report before I leave. An estimate on a new system is free.

Bring me the question, not just the checkbook

If you have the cash you deserve a real answer, not a closing script. Tell me what you are running and which co-op you are on. I will tell you what your rebate is worth and whether cash or the 0% makes more sense.