If you cannot pay for the heating work, there is a system built for that.
Federal, state, and utility programs cover heating and weatherization work at no cost, or close to it, for income-qualified households. They run through agencies, not sales calls. This page explains who qualifies, how the programs are structured, and exactly who to call.
Two different doors, and most people only try one
Eligibility is decided either by testing your income or by recognizing a benefit you already receive. The second door is faster, and it is the one people walk past.
Programs that pay for heating and weatherization work at no cost are aimed at households where the money is not there. That is the entire design intent. You are not asking for a favor and you are not being screened for creditworthiness. The question these programs ask is narrow: does this household's income sit under the line, or is it already established elsewhere that it does.
That "already established elsewhere" part is the piece worth understanding before you make a single call, because it changes how much paperwork you have to produce.
The income test
You show what the household earns, usually with recent pay stubs, a Social Security or pension award letter, unemployment statements, or last year's tax return. The agency compares that against a threshold set for your household size and, in some programs, your county. Household size matters as much as the dollar figure: the same income can qualify a family of five and not a couple.
Worth knowing: Thresholds differ by program and by state, and they are reset periodically. Ask the agency for the current number for your household size rather than working from a figure you read online.
The categorical qualifier
If someone in your household already receives certain benefits, many programs treat that as proof of income eligibility on its own. You do not have to document income a second time, because another agency already did. The benefits most often accepted are SNAP, TANF, HEAP or LIHEAP heating assistance, SSI, and in some states the state medical assistance program.
Worth knowing: This is the faster door, and it is the one people miss. If you are enrolled in any of those programs, say so on the first call. It can cut weeks out of an application.
A concrete example of the categorical route
Maine's Mobile Home Initiative is a clean illustration of how a categorical qualifier works in practice. It is open to households enrolled in MaineCare, HEAP, SNAP, or TANF, or with income at or below 80% of county median income (verified July 15, 2026). Note the "or." Enrollment in any one of those four programs is its own path in; you do not also have to pass the income test. And note that the income figure is tied to county median, not a national number, which is how most of these thresholds work.
One more point of respect for your time: eligibility rules for these programs are set per program and per state, and they change. We will not print a national income threshold here, because a stale threshold is worse than no threshold. It talks people out of applying who would have qualified. The agency for your state has the current number for your household size, and asking costs nothing.
Federally funded, locally delivered
WAP is the backbone program. Understanding how it is structured tells you who to call, which is the part most explanations leave out.
The Weatherization Assistance Program is funded by the federal government, but the federal government does not send anyone to your house. Money flows from the U.S. Department of Energy to each state, and the state distributes it to a network of local delivery agencies, most often community action agencies, which are nonprofit organizations covering one county or a cluster of counties. Those local agencies do the assessments, hold the contracts with the crews, and decide the order of the work.
Three consequences follow from that structure, and they explain almost everything homeowners find confusing about this program.
- There is no national phone number that helps you. The useful contact is your state energy office or the community action agency serving your county. A general federal inquiry will route you back to the state anyway.
- The program is assessment-led, not menu-led. You do not pick "new furnace" off a list. A certified energy auditor evaluates the whole house, and the scope of work comes out of that assessment. Health and safety items and the measures with the best energy return per dollar tend to come first, which in many homes means air sealing and insulation before mechanical equipment.
- Capacity varies by agency. Each local agency works from its own allocation, with its own staff and its own contractor bench. Two counties in the same state can be in very different positions. The only reliable answer about what is available near you comes from the agency near you.
You will find pages elsewhere quoting a dollar amount per home, a national income cutoff, and an average wait time for this program. We do not publish any of those three, because we do not have figures for them that we can stand behind and date. Numbers in this space go stale quickly, and a wrong one either raises hopes or talks a qualified household out of applying. Every figure on the rest of this page carries the date we verified it. Where we have no verified figure, we say so and send you to the agency that does.
How to find your local agency
Start at the state level and work down. Your state energy office (or its equivalent housing or community services department) administers WAP for the state and maintains the current list of local delivery agencies by county. Every one of our state pages links the state energy office for that state, so that is the shortest path from here. Once you have the agency for your county, ask them two things on the first call: how to start an application, and whether they handle no-heat situations on a separate track.
If you would rather see everything at once, including state and utility programs that sit alongside WAP, the rebate matcher lists what is open where you live. It does not ask for a phone number and it does not put you in front of a contractor.
A federal allocation is not a rebate
The federal electrification rebate program pays the most for the lowest-income households. Whether any of it is available to you depends entirely on what your state has actually launched.
Start with the rule that saves the most disappointment: a federal allocation is not a rebate. A headline announcing that your state received hundreds of millions of dollars does not mean a dollar of it is reachable this month. Each state has to write an implementation plan, get Department of Energy approval, and stand up its own program before a household can apply. Many states have not finished that. Some have launched and then restricted or paused intake.
With that said, the federal Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates program (HEAR) is designed to pay the most to households with the least. Where a state program is live, HEAR covers 100% of project cost, up to the per-measure caps below, for households under 80% of area median income, and 50% of cost, against the same caps, for households between 80% and 150% of area median income. Above 150% AMI, households are generally not eligible.
| Measure | Cap | The rule attached to it |
|---|---|---|
| Heat pump (space heating and cooling) | $8,000 | Per-measure cap. Under 80% AMI: 100% of project cost up to the cap. 80–150% AMI: 50% of cost, same cap. |
| Heat pump water heater | $1,750 | Same two income tiers apply to the share of cost covered. |
| Electrical panel | $4,000 | Only where the panel work is part of a qualifying electrification project. |
| Insulation, air sealing, ventilation | $1,600 | Under Program Notice 26-2, this work is now required before appliance rebates. |
| Electrical wiring | $2,500 | Branch circuits and related wiring for the qualifying equipment. |
| Household total | $14,000 | Ceiling across all measures for one household. A design cap, not a promise. |
HEAR national design caps. Not guaranteed available in any given state. Verified July 15, 2026.
Then the state reality
Those caps describe the federal design. What a household can actually apply for is set by the state administering the money, and in several states the program has been built as an income-qualified channel and nothing else. Three examples, each with the date we verified it:
- Michigan. MiHER, administered by EGLE through CLEAResult, has both HEAR and HOMES launched, but intake is limited to households at or below 150% of area median income. Market-rate applications are not open (verified July 11, 2026). If your income is under that line in Michigan, you are inside the only door currently open, not outside it.
- District of Columbia. HEAR has launched, and it is delivered solely through the Affordable Home Electrification program (verified July 11, 2026). There is no separate market-rate channel to compare it against; the income-qualified program is the program.
- Maine. HEAR is active but tightly restricted. The consumer channel is the $12,900 Mobile Home Initiative for income-eligible mobile and manufactured homes, alongside new-construction affordable multifamily. Standard single-family homeowners are not eligible (verified July 15, 2026, flagged provisional pending the state's response to the 2026 DOE program notices).
One rule change from 2026 matters for anyone heating with oil, gas, or propane. DOE Program Notice 26-2, dated May 29, 2026 (verified July 15, 2026), eliminated fuel switching from HEAR: those rebates are no longer available for replacing a gas, oil, or propane appliance with an electric one. Under HEAR, heat pumps and electric appliances now qualify only for new construction or for replacing existing electric equipment. The same notice made insulation and air sealing a prerequisite before appliance rebates, and Program Notice 26-1 applied the same fuel-switching change to the HOMES program. States operating under the old rules have roughly until the end of August or early September 2026 to amend.
This is worth being blunt about, because it is exactly the kind of change that leaves old pages online promising something that is gone. It does not affect the Weatherization Assistance Program, and it does not affect state and utility low-income programs funded with their own money. Those are separate systems with separate rules. For the full current picture of what is open in each state, read home energy rebates in 2026.
Your utility may run its own, with its own money
Federal programs are not the whole map. Many utilities operate income-qualified weatherization independently, and those programs answer to state regulators rather than to DOE.
In a lot of states the most useful program for a low-income household is not federal at all. Regulated gas and electric utilities in many states are required by their public utility commission to run efficiency programs, funded through a charge on customer bills, and those programs almost always include an income-qualified tier that delivers weatherization at no cost to the customer. Municipal utilities and rural electric cooperatives frequently run something similar on their own initiative.
These programs matter for a practical reason: because they are funded and governed separately, their eligibility rules, their waitlists, and their capacity are separate too. Being on a waitlist for federal weatherization does not stop you from applying to a utility program, and vice versa. Households sometimes get help from the utility program months before their name comes up on the other list. Applying to both is normal and is not double-dipping; the agencies coordinate scopes so the same measure is not paid for twice.
How to find yours
- Look at the bill first. The name of the utility on your electric bill and on your gas bill are your two search terms. If you heat with delivered oil or propane, your electric utility is still the one to ask, since electric efficiency programs cover envelope work regardless of heating fuel.
- Ask for the income-eligible program by name. The general customer service line often knows only the standard rebate offers. Ask specifically for the income-qualified, low-income, or income-eligible weatherization program. Different utilities brand it differently, and the front-line script does not always mention it.
- Check the statewide efficiency administrator. In several states, efficiency programs are run by one statewide organization rather than by each utility separately. Your state page names the administrator where one exists.
- Ask about bill help at the same time. The department that handles weatherization is often the department that handles hardship protections, payment arrangements, and arrears forgiveness. One call can start two things.
Start on your state page, which lists the state energy office and the efficiency administrator where one exists, then work down to the utility on your bill. If insulation and air sealing turn out to be the first measures on your scope, which is common, how to pay for insulation covers what those programs typically fund. And if it turns out your household is over the income line, how to pay for home energy upgrades and how to pay for a furnace replacement lay out the options in order, cheapest money first.
Six things that are worth doing today
Waiting is not passive. The households that get through these programs fastest are the ones whose paperwork is already sitting in a folder.
Get on the list, today
Applications are usually processed in the order they arrive, and the list does not start moving until your name is on it. Call your state energy office or your local community action agency and ask to start an application even if you are told the wait is long. There is no cost and no obligation to file one, and being three months into a queue is a much better position than starting from zero when something breaks.
Say the words if the heat is out
Health-and-safety and no-heat situations are handled differently from routine weatherization work at most agencies. If your heating system has failed, is unsafe, or has been condemned by a technician, tell the agency that in the first sentence. Ask specifically what their emergency or crisis process is and what documentation it needs.
Take the assessment seriously
The energy assessment is not a formality; it is the document that decides what gets done in your house and in what order. An auditor will walk the home, usually run a blower door test, check the heating system, and look for combustion safety and moisture problems. Point out every issue you know about, including the ones you assume are not their department. Our home energy assessment checklist covers what a thorough visit includes.
Gather the paperwork before you are asked
Almost every delay in these programs is a missing document. Get a folder together now: proof of income for everyone in the household or a current benefit award letter, proof that you own the home (a deed, tax bill, or mortgage statement) or written landlord permission if you rent, a recent utility bill for each fuel you buy, photo ID, and Social Security numbers for household members if the program asks. Copies, not originals.
Do not sign a contract in the meantime
These programs use their own approved contractors and their own scopes of work. Signing with a company that came to the house, or starting the work yourself, can disqualify the job entirely. If a contractor is standing in your kitchen and you think you may be income-eligible, tell them you need to make one call first.
Keep the heat on while you wait
Heating bill assistance is a separate program from weatherization, and being on one waitlist does not affect the other. LIHEAP, known as HEAP in many states, helps with heating bills and in most states runs a crisis component for households that are out of fuel, shut off, or facing shutoff. Many utilities also have hardship protections, medical protections, and arrears forgiveness plans that are not advertised. Ask.
If the heat is out right now
Safety comes before any of this. If you smell gas or suspect carbon monoxide, get everyone out of the house and call 911 or your utility's emergency line from outside. If you are using a stove, an oven, or an unvented fuel-burning heater to keep warm, stop; those are the appliances that cause carbon monoxide deaths during cold snaps every winter.
Then work two lines at once. The heating assistance program in your state, LIHEAP federally and HEAP in many states, runs a crisis or emergency component for households that are out of fuel, shut off, or facing shutoff, and in many states that component can deliver fuel or restore service quickly. Your local community action agency handles emergency heating system situations under weatherization and related programs. Tell both, in the first sentence, that the heat is out. If a technician has already looked at the system and condemned it or red-tagged it, ask for that in writing; it is the single most useful piece of paper you can hand either agency.
When the assessment does happen, walk through it with the auditor rather than leaving them to it. Our home energy assessment checklist covers what a complete visit includes and what is worth pointing out while they are there. Cold rooms, drafts, ice dams, moisture, a heating system that short-cycles: none of that is too small to mention, and some of it changes the scope.
The questions people actually ask
How do I get a free furnace replacement?
There is no single national program that hands out furnaces. The route is through income-qualified programs run at the state and local level: the federal Weatherization Assistance Program, which is delivered by state agencies and local community action agencies, plus state and utility low-income weatherization programs. You apply through the agency, an assessment determines what your home needs, and the agency arranges the work with its own approved contractors. Start by finding your state's energy office, which is linked from every state page on this site.
What is the Weatherization Assistance Program?
It is a federally funded program that pays for energy work in the homes of income-qualified households. The federal government funds it and sets the rules, but it does not deliver it: money flows to each state, and the state passes it to a network of local agencies, usually community action agencies, which do the assessments and manage the contractors. Work is assessment-led, meaning an energy auditor determines what your specific home gets rather than you choosing from a menu. Because each local agency has its own funding and its own crews, what is available and how fast varies from county to county.
Do renters qualify?
Often, yes, but not on your signature alone. The programs are built around the household's income, so a renting household can be income-eligible. What renters need in addition is the property owner's written permission, since the work is a permanent change to someone else's building. Many programs also require the owner to agree not to raise the rent because of the improvements, and some ask the owner to contribute toward the cost on rental property. Get your landlord into the conversation early; that consent is the step that most often stalls a renter's application.
How long does it take?
We do not publish a timeline, because there is no honest national number: each local agency has its own funding, staffing, and queue, and the same state can have a short wait in one county and a long one in the next. Ask the agency directly where you are in the queue and what their current processing time looks like, and ask again periodically. What we can tell you is that no-heat and health-and-safety situations are generally handled on a different track from routine weatherization, so make sure the agency knows if that is your situation.
What if my heat is out right now?
Handle safety first: if you smell gas or suspect carbon monoxide, leave and call 911 or your utility's emergency line. Then make two calls, not one. Call your state's heating assistance program, LIHEAP or HEAP, and ask for the crisis or emergency component, which exists specifically for households out of fuel or facing shutoff. Call your local community action agency and say the heat is out. Ask both what documentation they need to move today. If a technician has already condemned the system, get that in writing; it is the single most useful document you can hand an agency.
Keep reading
How to pay for a furnace replacement
If you do not qualify for an income-based program, this is the money map: six ways to pay, cheapest first, and when a heat pump beats a straight swap.
Home energy rebates in 2026
What is actually open right now, state by state, and what changed under the DOE program notices issued in May 2026.
How to pay for insulation
Insulation and air sealing are the cheapest heating bill reduction available, and the measures most low-income programs do first.
How to pay for home energy upgrades
The full picture across every measure: which programs pay first, which loans are cheapest, and the order to work through them.
Home energy assessment checklist
What a thorough assessment covers, what the auditor is looking for, and what to point out while they are in your house.
State energy efficiency loans
The state-by-state list of 0% and below-market energy loan programs, several of which have income-based tiers with better terms.
The next step is one phone call.
Every state page here links the state energy office that administers weatherization and low-income energy programs where you live. That office can point you to the local agency for your county. There is no cost to ask and no obligation to apply.
Find your state's agency