Which wood stoves and inserts qualify for the federal tax credit?

The 75 percent rule, in plain terms

The credit didn't care about brand or price — it cared about one number: 75 percent efficiency measured on the higher heating value (HHV) scale, which is the stricter of the two ways stove efficiency gets reported. Manufacturers published tax certificates listing exactly which model numbers cleared the bar, and the exact number mattered — a one-letter suffix could be the difference between a qualifying unit and its non-qualifying sibling. The manufacturer's certificate, not a salesperson's assurance, was always the document the IRS cared about.

Where that leaves a 2026 buyer

Nowhere, for now. The credit ended for units placed in service after December 31, 2025, so a stove or insert installed this year has no federal credit to qualify for, regardless of its efficiency rating. If your unit was installed in 2025, dig up the certificate for your model — most manufacturers still host them — and hand it to your CPA with the itemized invoice. If we installed it and you're not sure of the model, call (828) 545-0525 and we'll look up the job.

The efficiency bar is still a good shopping filter

Even with the credit gone, 75 percent HHV remains a useful shorthand for a stove that's a genuine heater rather than a pretty box. Regency's Cascades F1500 — EPA-certified, 78 percent efficiency, up to 55,000 BTU, heating up to 1,500 square feet — is exactly the class of stove the credit was written around: less wood per winter, less creosote in the flue, overnight burns that hold coals until morning. Compare that with an open masonry fireplace, which can actually run a net heat loss.

In a WNC winter, especially in the cabins up our mountain roads where a power outage isn't hypothetical, that efficiency is the payback. Come see the F1500 burning at our Asheville showroom and judge for yourself.