Pennsylvania Heating Assistance: LIHEAP

Q: What is heating assistance called in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania runs the federal program as Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), administered by Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. 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 Pennsylvania actually needs.

Q: When can a household apply for heating assistance in Pennsylvania?

Applications open November 2. The agency's own words: "The 2026-2027 LIHEAP Season is scheduled to open on November 2, 2026."

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

Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission sets a separate rule on that, and its short form is: December 1 to March 31. In several states the two are linked, because receiving assistance is itself what switches the disconnection protection on. The winter shutoff page for Pennsylvania carries the rule.

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

Both, in the way that matters to a household. The money is a federal block grant; Pennsylvania Department of Human Services 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)

Nov 2

The season opens

and runs while funds last

Set locally

The income limit

the agency publishes a rule rather than a figure

Yes

Crisis component

a separate, faster application

The answer

Heating assistance in Pennsylvania, in one screen

LIHEAP

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

Run by: Pennsylvania Department of Human Services
The season: Applications open November 2.
The income test: The test is a household income limit set by household size, 23,940 dollars for one person and 49,500 dollars for four, with 8,520 dollars added for each additional person, set out in the state agency's own table rather than as a percentage of either national measure.
How to apply: Pennsylvania Department of Human Services takes applications online, county assistance office and by phone.
By phone: 1-866-857-7095

Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

The 2026-2027 LIHEAP Season is scheduled to open on November 2, 2026.

Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

The Department of Human Services prints a cash grant range of 200 to 1,000 dollars set by household size, income and fuel type, paid straight to the utility or fuel provider as a credit on the bill.

Who qualifies

The LIHEAP income test in Pennsylvania

The test is a household income limit set by household size, 23,940 dollars for one person and 49,500 dollars for four, with 8,520 dollars added for each additional person, set out in the state agency's own table rather than as a percentage of either national measure.

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.

Income Requirements for 2026-2027 Household Size 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Income Limit $23,940 $32,460 $40,980 $49,500 $58,020 $66,540 $75,060 $83,580 $92,100 $100,620 For every additional person, add $8,520

Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

If you cannot wait

The crisis route in Pennsylvania

A crisis grant covers a heating emergency such as broken heating equipment, no fuel, a shut off main heat source, less than a 15 day fuel supply, or a termination notice saying service will go off within 60 days.

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.

Households experiencing a heating crisis may be eligible for additional benefits through the LIHEAP crisis program. Emergency situations include: Broken heating equipment or leaking lines that must be fixed or replaced; Lack of fuel; The main heating source or second heating source (a source that is used to operate the main heating source or used if the main heating source is not working) has been completely shut-off; The danger of being without fuel (less than a 15 day supply); The danger of having utility service terminated (you've received a notice that service will be shut off within the next 60 days)

Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, 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 Pennsylvania also stops the utility disconnecting

December 1 to March 31

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 Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s own words, is on the Pennsylvania winter shutoff page.

Next winter

Making the house cheaper to heat in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania runs Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) through Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. 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.

Pennsylvania's Weatherization Assistance Program increases energy efficiency in homes by reducing energy costs and increasing comfort while safeguarding health and safety.

Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) in Pennsylvania

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.

Pennsylvania heating assistance questions

What is heating assistance called in Pennsylvania?

When can a household apply for heating assistance in Pennsylvania?

What is the income limit for LIHEAP in Pennsylvania?

The test is a household income limit set by household size, 23,940 dollars for one person and 49,500 dollars for four, with 8,520 dollars added for each additional person, set out in the state agency's own table rather than as a percentage of either national measure. Pennsylvania Department of Human Services puts it this way: "Income Requirements for 2026-2027 Household Size 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Income Limit $23,940 $32,460 $40,980 $49,500 $58,020 $66,540 $75,060 $83,580 $92,100 $100,620 For every additional person, add $8,520"

How does a household apply in Pennsylvania?

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

A crisis grant covers a heating emergency such as broken heating equipment, no fuel, a shut off main heat source, less than a 15 day fuel supply, or a termination notice saying service will go off within 60 days. The agency's own words: "Households experiencing a heating crisis may be eligible for additional benefits through the LIHEAP crisis program. Emergency situations include: Broken heating equipment or leaking lines that must be fixed or replaced; Lack of fuel; The main heating source or second heating source (a source that is used to operate the main heating source or used if the main heating source is not working) has been completely shut-off; The danger of being without fuel (less than a 15 day supply); The danger of having utility service terminated (you've received a notice that service will be shut off within the next 60 days)"

Does Pennsylvania also stop a utility disconnecting heat in winter?

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

Is heating assistance in Pennsylvania 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

Pennsylvania winter shutoff rulesWhether Pennsylvania 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.

Pennsylvania read September 23, 2026 from Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, 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.