Is there really free insulation in Michigan?

For households at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, the Weatherization Assistance Program does the work at no cost. For households under 80% of area median income, the Michigan Home Energy Rebates program must cover 100% of approved work, which has the same practical effect. Both verify income themselves.

Which Michigan energy rebate has no income limit?

Consumers Energy Home Performance with ENERGY STAR. The only requirement is that Consumers Energy provides your natural gas or electric service. Michigan Saves financing also has no income cap, though it is a loan rather than a rebate.

Do I have to pay first and claim the money back?

Not under MiHER. The rebate is paid to the contractor and your bill is reduced by that amount, so you never front it and never wait for reimbursement.

Does Michigan Pay for Insulation? Four Programs, Explained

Q: Can I use more than one program on the same job?

Usually yes. Utility rebates and state rebates can both apply to the same project up to 100% of its cost, and a Michigan Saves loan can cover the remainder.

Yes. Four separate programs pay toward insulation, air sealing and heating work in Michigan homes, and between them there is a route for almost every household. The problem is that nobody tells homeowners they exist.

We get asked some version of this most weeks, usually by somebody who has just opened a January gas bill. The honest answer is more complicated than yes, because which program fits depends on three things: who bills you for gas, how much your household earns, and how old the house is.

Here is the whole landscape in one place.

1. Consumers Energy Home Performance with ENERGY STAR

Start here, because it is the one most people qualify for and almost nobody knows about. There is no income test at all. If Consumers Energy sends you a gas or electric bill, you are eligible. That is the entire test, and it is checked against your account number.

The published maximum is $3,750, for insulation, air sealing, duct work, windows and heating equipment. Funding is limited and allocated first come, first served.

The catch worth knowing: rebate funds can only be reserved after a full diagnostic assessment has been carried out. The assessment is not a hurdle, it is the first real step.

2. Michigan Home Energy Rebates (MiHER)

This is the big one. It is funded by the federal Inflation Reduction Act, administered by Michigan EGLE, and it pays on verified household income plus the energy savings a survey of your house actually models.

Published maximums are $20,000 per household for whole-home efficiency work and $14,000 for electrification and appliances. For a household under 80% of the area median income, the rebate must cover 100% of the approved work — which means the number the homeowner pays can be zero.

Two rules matter more than the headline figure. Only one whole-home rebate is available per address for the life of the program, so the first scope is the only scope. And the rebate is paid to the contractor, who reduces your bill by that amount, so you never front the money and wait.

3. Michigan Saves

Not a rebate. Michigan Saves is a nonprofit green bank that lends $1,000 to $50,000, unsecured, at a fixed rate not exceeding 7% APR, over terms up to 180 months. In Consumers Energy territory the rate is bought down further.

It exists for the gap. A rebate takes $4,000 off a $14,000 job and the homeowner still has to find $10,000 they do not have in a checking account. The lender pays the contractor directly on completion and you repay the lender.

4. The Weatherization Assistance Program

Federally funded, delivered locally, and for an eligible household it costs nothing at all — no loan, no rebate to claim, no homeowner share. Eligibility is at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, with priority to older people, people with disabilities and families with children.

In Clinton, Eaton, Ingham and Shiawassee counties the agency is Capital Area Community Services, and you apply to them directly rather than through a contractor. If you are likely to qualify, this is the first door to try, and we will say so even though it is not us doing the work.

So which one is yours?

If Consumers bills you, the Consumers rebate is open today regardless of anything else. If your household income is lower, MiHER may cover far more and weatherization assistance may cover everything. If you earn too much for either, Consumers plus a Michigan Saves loan still gets the work done.

They also stack. A Consumers rebate and a state rebate can both apply to the same project, up to 100% of its cost, with financing covering whatever is left.

Two things we will not do

We will not ask what you earn. The programs verify income themselves through their own applications. Your contractor has no part in that and no business asking. We ask about the house — how old it is, how it is heated, what it does in January.

And we will not quote you a rebate figure before an assessment. What a household actually receives depends on verified income and on modeled energy savings, and neither exists until somebody has surveyed the house. Anyone giving you a number over the phone is guessing.

One last thing. These programs are not emergency services and they take months. If something is broken right now — no heat, no hot water — call 211 or your utility today. The rebate conversation can wait until the house is warm.