Heating Assistance — The Core Program

The heating assistance component is the original and still largest part of LIHEAP, consuming 75–80% of program funding in most states. It provides financial assistance to help low-income households pay for their primary winter heating fuel — covering the period roughly from October through April in most northern states, with variations for local climate.

Heating assistance is typically structured as a one-time annual payment, applied to your heating account at the start of the heating season. In some states, it's distributed in multiple installments throughout the winter. The payment goes directly to your utility company or fuel vendor — it appears as a credit on your account rather than as cash in your hand.

The amount varies by state, income, and household size — nationally, heating assistance averages around $450–$600 per household annually, but this ranges from under $300 in warm-climate states to $1,000+ in the coldest parts of the Northeast. Energy price increases in recent years have made the relative value of this assistance more significant in states that have adjusted their benefit levels to keep pace.

What Heating Fuels Are Covered

LIHEAP heating assistance covers virtually all primary heating fuel types, including:

  • Natural gas: Paid directly to the gas utility company as a credit on your account
  • Electric heat: Paid to the electric utility — covers resistive electric heat, heat pumps, and baseboard heating
  • Heating oil (fuel oil): Paid directly to your oil delivery vendor — requires vendor contact information on your application
  • Propane: Paid to your propane supplier — requires supplier contact information
  • Wood, pellets, or coal: Some states provide vouchers or direct payments for solid fuel purchases — contact your local agency about specific procedures
  • Kerosene: Covered in states where it is a common heating fuel, particularly in rural areas

Households with two heating sources (for example, a gas furnace plus electric supplemental heat) can sometimes receive assistance for both, depending on their state's program rules. Ask your local agency whether multi-fuel assistance is available.

Cooling Assistance — Summer Help

The cooling assistance component helps households with high air conditioning electricity costs during summer, or provides equipment to households without air conditioning in dangerously hot areas. This component is far less universal than heating assistance — only about 30 states offer a formal cooling assistance program, and funding levels are typically much smaller than for heating.

Cooling assistance typically takes one of these forms:

  • Utility bill credit: Similar to heating assistance — a payment to your electric utility covering part of your summer electricity costs, typically applied once at the start of summer or in monthly installments during peak cooling months
  • Air conditioning unit provision: Some states provide vouchers or actual window AC units to eligible households that don't have cooling equipment. This targets households that cannot afford to purchase AC and face health risks from extreme heat.
  • Fan programs: A lower-cost intervention where portable fans are distributed to vulnerable households (primarily elderly) who don't need or can't safely use AC

Which States Offer Cooling Assistance

Cooling assistance is most common in states with significant summer heat burden — the South, Southwest, and parts of the Midwest. States with established cooling programs as of 2026 include:

  • Strong cooling programs: Texas, Florida, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland
  • Moderate cooling programs: California, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Alabama
  • Limited or no formal cooling program: Most northern states (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New England) — though many have AC unit or fan distribution programs specifically for elderly residents

Even states without a dedicated cooling program often have a crisis cooling component that activates during heat emergencies or extreme heat events. This crisis component may provide emergency assistance to households facing medical emergency due to heat — particularly elderly, disabled, and young-child households.

Air Conditioner Unit Programs

For households without air conditioning in hot-climate states, some LIHEAP programs — combined with state and local funds — provide air conditioning units to reduce heat-related health risks. These programs prioritize:

  • Elderly households (60+) — at highest risk for heat-related illness
  • Households with disabled members who cannot thermoregulate normally
  • Households with young children (under 6)
  • Households with members on medications that increase heat sensitivity

AC unit programs often run separately from the main LIHEAP application — they may have their own application, be distributed at specific events, or require a home visit to assess the household's need. Call 211 in late spring (May–June) to find out whether an AC unit program operates in your area and when it opens, as these programs often exhaust their supply quickly during heat warnings.

Crisis Assistance Is Year-Round

While heating and cooling assistance are seasonal, LIHEAP's crisis component is available year-round for acute energy emergencies. This includes:

  • Winter crises: Heating shutoff notices, actual heating disconnections, broken furnaces or heating equipment, and lack of fuel (empty heating oil tank, disconnected gas)
  • Summer crises: In states with cooling programs, extreme heat events that create medical emergency risk for vulnerable household members; cooling equipment failures; electric shutoffs during heat waves
  • Year-round utility crises: Disconnection of electric service at any time of year (electricity powers critical medical equipment, refrigerators for medications, etc.)

Crisis assistance is processed faster than regular seasonal assistance — typically 18–72 hours rather than 30 days. When you call to apply, clearly state "this is a crisis situation" and provide the date of the shutoff notice or the date service was disconnected. Most states maintain separate crisis funding specifically to ensure this faster response is available even when regular program funds are low.

Can You Receive Both Heating and Cooling in the Same Year

In states that offer both components, yes — you can receive heating assistance in winter and cooling assistance in summer within the same program year. These are separate applications (or separate components of the same application) with separate funding streams. Receiving heating benefits in February doesn't reduce or eliminate your eligibility for cooling benefits in July.

The practical challenge is application timing — you need to apply for heating assistance early in the heating season (fall) and for cooling assistance early in the cooling season (spring), since both can exhaust their funding. See LIHEAP Deadlines by State for when both windows typically open in your state.

Also consider the WAP Weatherization Assistance Program — a separate program that permanently reduces both heating and cooling costs through home insulation and efficiency improvements. See WAP Weatherization Program Guide.