Methodology

Publisher: ElectrifyRadar. This page says where the listings come from, how an ownership label is assigned, and when the files were last checked. Checked 2026-11-03.

Sources

• Massachusetts: the Mass Save Heat Pump Installer Network spreadsheet linked from the heat pump installer finder. The file header says Revised: 10-29-2026. The finder says participants provided EPA certification, Massachusetts insurance, and heat pump installation training, and that participation is not an endorsement.
• Maine: the Efficiency Maine Residential Registered Vendor locator, Heat Pumps service, distance “any,” ZIP 04101. The locator requires a ZIP. Installer email addresses in that tool are not republished. Efficiency Maine says it does not endorse a provider.
• New York: the NYS Clean Heat contractor finder, using the same public search the site uses, limited to residential contractors offering ASHP, air-to-water, ground-source, or heat pump water heater installation. Email addresses from that API are not republished.
• California: TECH Clean California file ContractorProjectData_2026-10-20. One directory row is one contractor name, CSLB number, and city. Phone and license status are joined from the CSLB classification downloads for C-20 and C-36 when the license number matches. Contractors with no phone after that join are left out. The full license lists are not published. A C-20 license alone is not treated as heat pump work.
• Minnesota: the Minnesota DLI Mechanical Contractor Bond export, status Issued, Minnesota address, with a phone number. This is a mechanical contracting credential, not a heat-pump program roster. Profiles say so. Email addresses in the file are not republished.
• Connecticut: the Energize CT contractor search with Heat Pump Installation selected. Checked 2026-11-03. The search returned 658 contractors that day. An April 2026 program survey had said 680; this directory uses the live search, not that older total.
• Rhode Island: the Clean Heat RI Heat Pump Installer Network PDF revised 11/13/2025, linked from the find-an-installer page. Email addresses in the PDF are not republished.
• Vermont: the Efficiency Vermont find-a-pro tool, Heat Pumps - Ductless, limited to Efficiency Excellence Network ductless specialists. The finder showed 210 results. Star ratings in that feed are not republished.

OEM dealer locators are not copied. A brand badge is not an ownership label.

Ownership labels

Every listing starts as Ownership: unverified. That means no documented private-equity platform or franchise parent matched DealSeam’s 2026 HVAC roll-up tracker (page last updated 28 July 2026; read 2026-11-03) or the Aire Serv site, which describes Aire Serv as a Neighborly company whose work is done by franchise companies. A match stores the parent, the matched words, the source URL, and the day the source was read. The profile links that source.

Matches are narrow. “Comfort Systems” is not treated as Comfort Systems USA. “Champion” is not treated as Champions Group. The letters ARS alone are not treated as Rescue Rooter. Nexstar membership is not a match. See Nexstar’s about page. We did not ingest a membership roster.

An independent label is used only when the company’s own site states family ownership with a year or generation, or names the owner-operator, and a search on the checked date did not turn up a sale. The quotes are in the evidence file. See platforms and local brands.

Some California and Minnesota rows in the ten largest cities had no website in the state file. When a public web search on 2026-11-03 found an official site, and the page matched the business name plus the phone, the street address and ZIP, or the license number, that URL is added to the profile with the note “Website found by ElectrifyRadar” and the match basis. A directory page is not treated as the business’s site. Finding a site does not by itself change the ownership label.

What a business tells us

The claim form asks the business to describe ownership: independent or family-owned, a franchise, part of a larger company or a private-equity-backed platform (with the name), or not sure. An optional field asks for the owner name or parent company. The form emails hello@electrifyradar.com through Web3Forms. It does not write the answer into the listing file.

If we later publish an ownership answer from a reviewed submission, the profile shows it as self-reported by the business. That style is a dashed label, separate from sourced labels such as Independent or PE or platform-owned, which link a public page and quote it. A self-reported line does not replace a sourced label, and it is not evidence that the business is independent.

What we do not publish

No star ratings, review counts, or made-up prices. Manual J is marked only when a source says the installer performed or claimed it. None of the files above say that, so every listing reads “Manual J: not in source.” Rebate dollar amounts appear only when an official page stated them, with that page linked and this checked date. The Minnesota $4,000 figure is one of those, quoted on the Minnesota rebate guide from the Commerce page.

Update cadence

There is no automatic daily crawl. An operator reruns the pipeline when a source file should be refreshed and commits the new listings. The date on a profile is the day that source was checked, currently 2026-11-03. City pages with fewer than three listings are marked noindex and left out of the sitemap so thin pages are not offered as search landing pages. The installer profiles on those pages stay in the sitemap.