Energy Star

• Energy Star, a partnership of the Department of Energy and EPA, is one of the federal government's largest energy incentive programs. Rather than awarding grants like other programs, the government uses tax credits as an incentive to renovate homes for efficiency or buy renewable energy equipment. Most qualifying efficiency renovations --- such as installing insulation, replacing windows or buying metal roofs --- are eligible for tax credits that reimburse 10 percent of the costs, up to $500. Tax credits for renovations expire at the end of 2011. Other eligible work, mainly system installation, is eligible for up to 30 percent reimbursements. Those credits expire at the end of 2016.
  
  

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

• Low-income families with immediate energy needs, such as replacing broken heating systems they can't afford, can receive help through LIHEAP. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children & Families awards block grants to states, U.S. territories and Native American tribes to provide assistance to their residents. Eligible families must have household incomes less than the greater of two markers: They must fall below 150 percent of the federal poverty level or they must have incomes of 60 percent or less of their states' median household incomes.
  
  

Weatherization Assistance Program

• Another program that helps low-income households endure energy costs is the U.S. Department of Energy's Weatherization Assistance Program. The program, managed by the office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, typically awards up to $6,500 in grant funding to pay for weatherization and efficiency upgrades. The department says doing the work the program pays for lowers annual energy bills by $437 per home. The amount of funding states receive depends on the size of states' low-income populations, their climates and average household energy costs. Eligible households must have incomes at 200 percent or less of the federal poverty level.
  
  

Rural Development's Rural Energy for America Program (REAP)

• Some homeowners in rural communities can receive up to $250,000 to pay for energy efficiency projects from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Agricultural producers, meaning people who earn at least half their annual income from farming or ranching, are eligible for REAP. The program's grants cover 25 percent of the costs, up to $250,000, for efficiency renovations. REAP also awards up to $500,000 to install renewable energy systems and up to $50,000 to farmers and ranchers to conduct feasibility studies for renewable energy projects. Small business owners in rural communities --- towns of 20,000 residents or fewer --- are also eligible.