Florida Heating Assistance: LIHEAP

Q: What is heating assistance called in Florida?

Florida runs the federal program as Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), administered by FloridaCommerce (Florida Department of Commerce). 18 different program names appear across the states compiled here, which is why a search for the federal acronym often misses the page a household in Florida actually needs.

Q: Does Florida also stop a utility disconnecting heat in winter?

Florida Public Service Commission sets a separate rule on that, and its short form is: No winter window. In several states the two are linked, because receiving assistance is itself what switches the disconnection protection on. The winter shutoff page for Florida carries the rule.

Q: Is there help making the house cheaper to heat in Florida?

FloridaCommerce (Florida Department of Commerce) runs Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), which is the companion to the bill payment side. Its own words: "The Weatherization Assistance Program ( WAP ) annually provides grant funds to community action agencies, local governments, Indian tribes and non-profit agencies to provide specific program services for low-income families of Florida."

Q: Is heating assistance in Florida a state program or a federal one?

Both, in the way that matters to a household. The money is a federal block grant; FloridaCommerce (Florida Department of Commerce) decides what it is called, when it opens, who is eligible and what it pays. Across the states compiled here that produces 18 program names and 8 different opening months, so the answer is a state answer even though the funding is federal.

LIHEAP

What it is called here

Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

Ask locally

The season

FloridaCommerce (Florida Department of Commerce) publishes no fixed opening date

60%

The income limit

of state median income

Yes

Crisis component

a separate, faster application

The answer

Heating assistance in Florida, in one screen

LIHEAP

Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

Run by: FloridaCommerce (Florida Department of Commerce)
The season: FloridaCommerce (Florida Department of Commerce) publishes no fixed opening date for the season.
The income test: The test is total income no more than 60 percent of the Florida state median income or 150 percent of the federal poverty level, measured against the state median income, so the qualifying figure moves with what households in that state actually earn.
How to apply: FloridaCommerce (Florida Department of Commerce) takes applications local agency provider and by phone.

Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, FloridaCommerce

The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program ( LIHEAP ) is a federally funded program that helps income-qualified families with home heating and cooling costs. FloridaCommerce administers LIHEAP and allocates funding directly to a network of community action agencies, also known as local agency providers, located throughout the state of Florida.

Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, FloridaCommerce, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

The local provider pays the utility company directly on the household's behalf, and gas or propane bills are covered only in winter and only where that fuel is the home's primary heat. The agency prints no benefit amount.

Who qualifies

The LIHEAP income test in Florida

The test is total income no more than 60 percent of the Florida state median income or 150 percent of the federal poverty level, measured against the state median income, so the qualifying figure moves with what households in that state actually earn.

Income is counted gross rather than after tax, and the household is everyone living at the address rather than everyone on the lease. Most states count the last thirty days or the last twelve months, not last year’s tax return, which means a household whose hours were cut in October can qualify in November on a year that looks too high on paper. Apply and let the agency do the arithmetic rather than ruling yourself out.

Have a total income no more than 60% of the Florida State Median Income or 150% of Federal Poverty Level.

Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, FloridaCommerce, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

If you cannot wait

The crisis route in Florida

Depending on funds in the county a household may apply more than once in a year, though not every month.

A crisis application and a regular one are different transactions on different clocks. A household with a disconnection notice, an empty tank or a dead furnace should start with this one, say plainly on the call what the emergency is, and have the notice or the delivery ticket to hand.

Depending on the funds available in your county, you may be able to apply for assistance multiple times a year, but not every month.

Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, FloridaCommerce, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

A white residential propane tank standing on a concrete pad beside a mown yard, with bare trees and a wooded ridge behind it — For a household on propane or heating oil the benefit usually arrives as a delivery to a tank like this one rather than as a credit on a bill, which is why a state that pays vendors directly will ask which dealer you use before it asks anything else. “Propane Tank - panoramio”, Corey Coyle, CC BY 3.0

The other half

Whether Florida also stops the utility disconnecting

No winter window

The two are separate: a heating grant is money and a shutoff rule is a restriction on the company. In several states an approved grant application is itself what satisfies the filing the shutoff rule asks for, which makes applying worth doing even for a household that thinks the grant will not cover much. The full rule, with Florida Public Service Commission’s own words, is on the Florida winter shutoff page.

Next winter

Making the house cheaper to heat in Florida

Florida runs Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP). It pays for the insulation and the air sealing rather than the bill, which is the only part of this that lowers next winter as well as this one.

The Weatherization Assistance Program ( WAP ) annually provides grant funds to community action agencies, local governments, Indian tribes and non-profit agencies to provide specific program services for low-income families of Florida.

FloridaCommerce (Florida Department of Commerce), read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) in Florida

In most states a household approved for the heating grant is automatically income eligible for weatherization, so the same paperwork does both. The waiting list is usually long and the work is usually free, which is a combination worth joining early rather than in the week it is needed.

Florida heating assistance questions

What is heating assistance called in Florida?

When can a household apply for heating assistance in Florida?

What is the income limit for LIHEAP in Florida?

The test is total income no more than 60 percent of the Florida state median income or 150 percent of the federal poverty level, measured against the state median income, so the qualifying figure moves with what households in that state actually earn. FloridaCommerce (Florida Department of Commerce) puts it this way: "Have a total income no more than 60% of the Florida State Median Income or 150% of Federal Poverty Level."

How does a household apply in Florida?

What happens if the heat is about to go off this week in Florida?

Does Florida also stop a utility disconnecting heat in winter?

Is there help making the house cheaper to heat in Florida?

Is heating assistance in Florida a state program or a federal one?

Icicles hanging in a row from the eaves of a low brick apartment building against a clear blue sky, with a balcony rail at the right edge — A renter whose heat is bundled into the rent can still qualify in most states, and is among the least likely to apply. Where a state sets its income test against the federal poverty level rather than state median income, the line can sit twenty points apart for the same household. “Icicles on the eaves of a house in Quebec City”, Wilfredor, CC0

Heating assistance in other states

Florida winter shutoff rulesWhether Florida bars a winter disconnection, and what a household has to do.Winter shutoff rules by stateWhether a window, a forecast or a filing decides it where you live.Heating oil and propane pricesWhat the fuel costs this week in the states that report it.Firewood cutting permitsWhere a permit lets a household cut its own firewood.Heating assistance in every stateThe program names, the opening dates and the income tests side by side.

Florida read September 23, 2026 from Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, FloridaCommerce, linked above. Opening dates, income limits and benefit amounts are set each program year and the agency can change them mid season, so the page linked above is the one that governs. Every state is on the heating assistance hub.