The first real heating bills of the season are about to land. Around here, early November is when the phones change: fewer people asking about SEER2 ratings, more people asking why their system is running so much and what it’s going to cost them by March. And every winter we talk to folks who are flat-out worried about the bill itself.
Here’s the thing most people don’t know: there is a lot of legitimate help out there for heating costs, and most of it goes unclaimed because nobody applies. Not sketchy “save 90% on your power bill” gadgets. Actual programs, funded for this winter, that pay real money toward real heating bills.
We sell furnaces and heat pumps for a living, so you might expect this post to end with “buy a new system.” Sometimes that is the right answer, and we’ll get to when. But first, the help that exists right now, because a grant you apply for this week beats any equipment upgrade you can’t afford.
Table of Contents
- Why bills sting more this winter
- LIHEAP: the big one almost nobody applies for
- About to be shut off? Do these things this week
- The programs your utility doesn’t advertise
- Free weatherization, if you qualify and can wait
- Cheap fixes that actually move the bill
- When the equipment itself is the problem
- Quick answers
Why bills sting more this winter
We covered the numbers in detail in our 2026–27 winter heating forecast, so we won’t repeat it all here. The short version: most households are looking at higher heating costs than last winter, with the pain spread unevenly depending on what fuel you heat with and where you live.
Electricity rates in particular have been climbing in much of the country, which hits heat pump owners and anyone with electric resistance heat. If you heat with propane or oil, your cost depends heavily on when you fill the tank and who you buy from.
None of that is in your control. What is in your control: whether you claim the help you’re entitled to, and how much heat your house wastes. The rest of this post is about those two things.
LIHEAP: the big one almost nobody applies for
LIHEAP is the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. It’s federal money, run by each state, that pays toward home heating costs for income-qualified households. It has been around since the early 1980s, and every fall we’re surprised again by how many people have never heard of it.
A few things about LIHEAP that surprise people:
- It’s a grant, not a loan. You don’t pay it back. The money typically goes straight to your utility or fuel dealer and shows up as a credit on your account.
- It covers deliverable fuels too. Oil, propane, even wood and coal in many states. It’s not just for gas and electric customers.
- Renters can often qualify. In many states that’s true even if heat is included in your rent, though the rules vary.
- You don’t need to be on other assistance. Plenty of working households qualify and don’t realize it. Income limits are commonly set around 150% of the federal poverty level or a percentage of state median income, which is higher than many people assume.
The season is open now. Most states opened applications in October or on November 1, and they generally run into the spring. Pennsylvania is a decent example of how it works: the 2026–27 season there runs into late April, regular cash grants range from $200 to $1,000 per household, and a family of four can qualify with gross income up to $49,500. Your state’s numbers will differ, but the shape is similar: one regular grant per season, with separate crisis money available if you’re in an emergency.
How to apply: search your state’s name plus “LIHEAP,” or call 211 and ask. Most states take applications online now, and you don’t need to figure out whether you qualify before applying. The state does that part.
One piece of advice we’ll put plainly: apply early. LIHEAP money is limited and some states exhaust their funds before the season officially ends. The people who apply in November do better than the people who apply in February.
About to be shut off? Do these things this week
If you’ve got a disconnection notice on the counter, the worst move is to ignore it and hope. Utilities deal with payment trouble constantly, and the system is built to work with people who speak up before the shutoff date, not after.
Three calls, in this order:
- Call your utility. Tell them you can’t pay the full balance and ask what your options are. Payment plans that spread the balance over months are standard. And if you’ve applied for energy assistance, say so; in some states a pending application puts the disconnection on hold.
- Apply for LIHEAP crisis assistance. Separate from the regular grant, most states run a crisis component for households facing shutoff or running out of deliverable fuel. These applications usually get processed fast, often within days.
- Call 211. They’ll know about local programs we can’t list here: county funds, fuel banks, charity programs through the Salvation Army and similar groups, and utility hardship funds.
Also worth knowing: many states restrict winter disconnections for some or all residential customers, often from November through March. The rules vary a lot by state, and some only protect specific groups like seniors or households with young children, so don’t assume you’re covered. But don’t assume you aren’t, either. Your state public utility commission’s website will say.
And if you heat with propane or oil and the tank is getting low, call your dealer before you’re empty. Running an oil tank dry can mean a service call to restart the burner, and an out-of-gas situation on propane requires a leak check before the system can run again. Dealers would rather work out a partial delivery than deal with any of that.
The programs your utility doesn’t advertise
Even if you’re not in crisis, your utility probably offers a few things that take the edge off. They’re usually buried a few clicks deep on the website.
Budget billing averages your annual usage so you pay roughly the same amount every month instead of getting hammered in January and February. It doesn’t lower the total, but it makes winter survivable on a fixed income. Free to enroll with most utilities.
Hardship and discount programs exist at many utilities for income-qualified customers: percentage-of-income payment plans, flat discounts on the rate, or arrearage forgiveness programs that erase old debt as you make on-time payments. In some states, applying for LIHEAP can connect you straight to these programs, which is one more reason to apply.
Rate review takes ten minutes and occasionally saves real money. If your utility offers time-of-use rates and you have a heat pump, or you’re on an old rate plan from years ago, it’s worth a look. Some utilities have rate comparison tools that use your actual usage history.
Free weatherization, if you qualify and can wait
The Weatherization Assistance Program is LIHEAP’s quieter cousin. Instead of paying this winter’s bill, it fixes the house so every future bill is smaller: air sealing, insulation, duct repair, and health and safety checks on your heating equipment, done free for income-qualified households through local community action agencies.
The catch is the waitlist. In many areas it’s months long, sometimes longer. That’s not a reason to skip it; it’s a reason to get on the list now so the work happens before next winter. If you qualify for LIHEAP, you typically qualify for weatherization, and the same local agency often handles both.
Cheap fixes that actually move the bill
We’re a supply house, so we see what people actually buy when they’re trying to cut heating costs. Some of it works. Some of it is money down the drain. Here’s the honest list, cheapest first.
Change the filter. A loaded filter makes the blower work harder and chokes airflow, and on a heat pump it can drag efficiency down enough to kick on the electric backup heat, which is the most expensive heat there is. A few dollars, five minutes. We wrote a whole post on what dirty filters do to a system if you want the details.
Set the thermostat back, correctly. With a furnace, nighttime setbacks save real money. With a heat pump, a deep setback can backfire by triggering auxiliary heat during recovery. We dug into the numbers in our post on nighttime setbacks, and the answer depends on what’s in your mechanical room.
Seal the obvious leaks. Door sweeps, weatherstripping, caulk around penetrations, foam gaskets behind outlet covers on exterior walls. A weekend and maybe fifty bucks. Our home envelope guide walks through finding the leaks worth sealing.
Close the fireplace damper. An open damper is a hole in your roof that runs all winter. If you never use the fireplace, a chimney balloon seals it properly.
Don’t close vents to “push heat” to other rooms. This one costs you money instead of saving it. Closing supply registers raises static pressure, cuts system airflow, and can overheat a furnace or ice a heat pump coil. The system was sized for the whole house. Let it heat the whole house.
If you want the full rundown, our guide to lowering heating bills without replacing your system goes deeper on all of this.
When the equipment itself is the problem
Sometimes the bill is high because the machine making the heat is old and inefficient. A furnace from the 1990s might be sending 20 to 30 cents of every fuel dollar up the flue compared to a modern condensing unit. An early-2000s heat pump is working with efficiency numbers today’s equipment left behind years ago.
We’re not going to tell you that everyone with a high bill needs new equipment. Most don’t. The math only works when the system is old enough, inefficient enough, or broken enough, and we laid out how to run that math in our repair-or-replace guide.
But if you’re there, buying direct is how you keep the project affordable. We carry Goodman and Solace equipment at supply-house pricing, our clearance section has open-box units at serious discounts, and 0% APR financing through Affirm is available on qualifying orders. Shipping is free over $99. Start with our sizing tool so you’re pricing the right size system, not guessing. And if you find a better price somewhere else, check our price match guarantee before you buy there.
Not sure which direction makes sense for your house? Call us at (877) 843-4822 or email Info@BuyComfortDirect.com. We’ll give you a straight answer, including “keep what you have” when that’s the truth.
Quick answers
Do I have to pay LIHEAP back?
No. It’s a grant. It goes to your utility or fuel dealer as a credit and that’s the end of it.
I applied years ago and got denied. Should I bother again?
Yes. Income limits change, your situation changes, and states let you apply fresh every season regardless of past denials.
I heat with propane. Does any of this apply to me?
Most of it. LIHEAP covers deliverable fuels in most states, crisis assistance specifically covers being low on fuel, and your dealer may offer budget plans that spread costs across the year.
Will the utility really not shut me off in winter?
Depends entirely on your state and sometimes on your household. Many states restrict winter disconnections, but the protections have conditions. Check your state utility commission’s site, and either way, call the utility before the shutoff date. Options shrink after it.
Winter’s coming either way. The difference between a rough season and a manageable one is usually a couple of phone calls made in November instead of February. Make them this week.