Help Paying for Heating and Cooling in Berks County: LIHEAP and Grants

If your household income is at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty line, there is help paying for heating in Berks County this winter. A LIHEAP cash grant of $200 to $1,000 goes to your utility or fuel company, and a separate Crisis grant of up to $1,000 a season covers the moment the heat is about to go out.

The season opens Monday, November 2, 2026.

This is for any Berks household, renter or owner, that cannot cover the heating bill, a fuel delivery, or a dead furnace. There are separate programs for weatherizing the house and for a hardship on the utility bill.

If the furnace is the problem, the HVAC companies across Berks County are on one page, and the furnace section below says which program can pay one of them.

LIHEAP is the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, federal heating money that Pennsylvania's Department of Human Services pays out each winter. The federal poverty line (FPL) is the yearly income figure the federal government sets for a household of a given size, and most programs here set their limit as a percentage of it. At 150 percent, that is $23,940 for one person and $49,500 for four.

Which program is yours? Check which utility is on your bill, then find your row.

Programs as posted by each agency as of September 2026; income limits change each year.

LIHEAP is the main help paying for heating in Berks County, and the season opens November 2.

The LIHEAP cash grant is $200 to $1,000, paid once, and it usually goes to your utility or fuel company as a credit on your account; a renter whose heat is folded into the rent gets the check directly.

The amount depends on household size, income, and what you heat with. Renters and homeowners both qualify, and you do not need an unpaid bill or public assistance to apply.

And cooling? Pennsylvania runs a cooling program through the weatherization agencies only when it is made available, repairing or replacing an air conditioner, heat pump or central air unit, and it targets homes that received LIHEAP the previous season or are already in weatherization work. The winter application is the door to it.

Does LIHEAP cover oil, propane, wood, or coal? Yes. A household that pays for a delivered fuel, directly to the delivery company or as part of the rent, is covered by both the cash and Crisis grants, and a Crisis grant for delivered fuel pays to fill the tank as far as the money allows.

When can you apply? The 2026-27 season opens Monday, November 2, 2026, and runs through Friday, April 23, 2027. Applications go in three ways:

• Online at compass.state.pa.us, on or after November 2.
• On paper, with a form requested from the LIHEAP helpline, 866-857-7095.
• In person at the Berks County Assistance Office, 625 Cherry Street, Reading, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., 610-736-4211 (LIHEAP line 610-736-4228).

Do you qualify? The income limits are 150 percent of the federal poverty line:

What do you bring? Names and dates of birth for everyone in the house, Social Security numbers for every household member (anyone without one signs an energy assistance affidavit instead), proof of income for everyone, and a recent heating bill.

A broken furnace in winter: the Crisis grant, and who fixes it.

A Crisis grant is LIHEAP's emergency money, $25 up to a season maximum of $1,000, and you can get more than one until you reach the cap. It covers three situations:

• Broken heating equipment or leaking lines that must be fixed or replaced.
• A fuel supply of less than 15 days.
• A shutoff of your heat, or a notice that one is coming.

How do you get one? Apply for LIHEAP first, since the Crisis grant runs on the same application and the same 150 percent limit, then report the emergency to the Berks County Assistance Office on Cherry Street.

One rule surprises people: a shutoff notice from a regulated utility dated December 1 or later does not count as proof of an emergency until February 1, 2027, because the winter shutoff protection covered below is already in force.

Who fixes the furnace? Crisis money can pay for the repair of a broken furnace, the repair of the fuel lines feeding it, the loan of an auxiliary heater, or a new heating system if there is documentation that the old one cannot be repaired.

The County Assistance Office refers the job to Berks Community Action Program, which sends its own contractors, and the payment goes to the vendor, not to you.

Can you use your own contractor? You may ask for one, subject to the agency's review and possibly a second bid, and an outside installation is inspected before it is paid. If you are paying for the repair yourself, or want that second bid ready, the HVAC companies across Berks County are on one page, and our post on the best HVAC contractors in Berks County groups them by area, and our post on what HVAC contractors charge in Berks County says what a fair repair costs.

Which utility serves your Berks address, and what it offers.

Check the name on the bill, because every utility program in the table belongs to one company. UGI supplies natural gas to most of the county, Reading included. Met-Ed is the electric utility for Reading and for many Berks municipalities beyond the PPL list, Muhlenberg, Exeter, Hamburg, Leesport and Topton among them. PPL Electric serves two areas, one west of the city and one in the southern corner:

• Wyomissing, Wyomissing Hills, West Lawn and Shillington.
• Sinking Spring, Wernersville, Robesonia and Womelsdorf.
• Morgantown and New Morgan.
• Spring, Cumru, Heidelberg, Lower Heidelberg, South Heidelberg and Caernarvon townships.

Cumru Township and Shillington are split between the two companies, which is why the bill, not the address, decides.

What does UGI offer a gas customer who is behind? Three things: CAP, an income-based monthly payment; Operation Share, grants toward the bill through the Reading Salvation Army; and LIURP, which sends a crew to insulate, seal and tune the heating system in a high-use home.

And Met-Ed? PCAP for an income-based bill and a hardship grant, both through Dollar Energy Fund, the organization that takes Met-Ed's PCAP, hardship and WARM applications, and WARM for free insulation.

And PPL? OnTrack for fixed payments, Operation HELP for grants, and WRAP for weatherization in electric-heat homes. The income limits and phone numbers are in the table above.

Can the utility shut off your heat in January? From December 1 through March 31, an electric or gas utility may not shut off a household at or below 250 percent of the poverty line without permission from the Public Utility Commission. If a shutoff is threatened in that window, the PUC's consumer line is 800-692-7380.

Weatherization is the free fix that cuts the bill.

Weatherization means sealing and insulating the house so it burns less fuel, and in Pennsylvania it is free for households at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty line, about $66,000 a year for four. Priority goes to older residents, people with disabilities, families with children, and high energy users.

What does the crew do? Air sealing; attic, wall, basement and crawlspace insulation; and heating system modification or replacement to make it more efficient or safer. That last part matters if your furnace is old but still running, because weatherization can include repairing broken heating equipment.

How do you apply in Berks? The county's agency is Berks Community Action Program. Call the weatherization line, 610-375-9770, for an appointment.

Bring proof of the household's income for the past 12 months and proof that you own the property; a renter needs the landlord's contact and permission. A home weatherized in the last 15 years is not eligible again.

Rebates and credits that lower a replacement.

Is there still a federal tax credit for a new furnace or heat pump? No. The credit for efficient furnaces, air conditioners and heat pumps ended for equipment installed after December 31, 2025. Pennsylvania's Home Energy Rebates program, the one meant to cover up to 100 percent of a project for low-income households, has not launched.

What is open?

• UGI gas customers: $500 for an ENERGY STAR gas furnace installed before September 30, 2026, while funds last, with the application filed within 90 days of installation.
• The Berks Redevelopment Authority's Major Systems Program: a one-time deferred payment loan for low-income owner-occupants of a single-family home, and a heating system counts as a major system. Township and borough residents only; city residents contact the City of Reading. 610-781-9317.

Before you sign a replacement quote, our post on the $5,000 rule for repair or replace helps you decide whether the old furnace is worth fixing, the furnace replacement cost in Berks County post shows what the job runs here, and the HVAC contractors guide covers what to check on the company.

If you do not know where to start.

Dial 211. PA 211 East covers Berks 24 hours a day, by phone or by texting your ZIP code to 898-211, and it routes you to utility and rent help.

Before November 2 there is no new LIHEAP application to file (last season's recipients get a pre-season application or a postcard in the mail), so this is the door to start with.

The Reading Salvation Army, 301 South 5th Street, has case managers who sign people up for UGI CAP and Operation Share (the Hamburg, Fleetwood, Leesport, Shoemakersville and Mohrsville ZIP codes go to the Hamburg Salvation Army), and its Emergency Food and Shelter Program helps with oil or propane for heat and with overdue utility bills.

Questions people ask about heating help in Berks County.

Who qualifies for LIHEAP in Berks County?

Any Berks household with income at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty line: $23,940 a year for one person, $49,500 for four, and $8,520 more for each person past eight. Renters and homeowners both qualify, and you need neither public assistance nor an unpaid bill. The limits reset each year.

When does LIHEAP open in Pennsylvania?

The 2026-27 season opens Monday, November 2, 2026, and runs through Friday, April 23, 2027. Apply online at compass.state.pa.us on or after November 2, by paper, or at the Berks County Assistance Office, 625 Cherry Street, Reading.

Does LIHEAP pay for furnace repair?

Yes, through the Crisis grant, which covers broken heating equipment or leaking lines that must be fixed or replaced, up to the $1,000 season maximum, with the payment going to the vendor. Apply for LIHEAP, then report the breakdown to the County Assistance Office at 610-736-4228.

Is there help paying for heating oil in Berks County?

Yes. LIHEAP's cash and Crisis grants cover oil, kerosene, propane, wood and coal, and a Crisis grant for delivered fuel pays to fill the tank as far as the money allows, off-hour delivery charges included. The Reading Salvation Army's Emergency Food and Shelter Program also helps households that need oil or propane for heat.