Czyste Powietrze: Poland's Clean Air Grants for Homeowners Explained
Short answer: Czyste Powietrze gives owners of single-family homes in Poland grants to replace old coal stoves with clean heating and to insulate. Funding runs from 22,920 to 170,100 zl across three income-based levels. Foreign homeowners qualify on the same terms - eligibility is about property and income, not citizenship.
If you own a house in Poland with an old coal stove, the state will pay a large part of the cost of replacing it - and of insulating the building while you are at it. The Czyste Powietrze (Clean Air) programme, run by the National Fund for Environmental Protection (NFOŚiGW), opened a new round on 31 March 2025 with grants that can reach six figures. Here is how it works, and why foreign homeowners can use it too.
What the grant covers
The programme funds a full thermal upgrade of a single-family home:
- replacing an old solid-fuel stove (the infamous *kopciuch*) with a clean heat source - for example a heat pump, a gas or pellet boiler, a connection to district heating, or electric heating
- modernising the central heating and hot-water installation
- insulating walls, roofs and floors, and replacing windows and exterior doors
- mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (rekuperacja)
- the paperwork the new programme makes mandatory: an energy audit of your home and an energy performance certificate
Devices and materials must come from the programme's ZUM list of approved products.
Who can apply
Eligibility is based on ownership and income, not citizenship. You can apply if you are a natural person who has owned (or co-owned) a single-family house, or a separated flat in one with its own land-and-mortgage register, for at least three years. The three-year wait does not apply if you inherited the property. One limitation introduced for applications filed since 22 April 2024: you cannot already be a Czyste Powietrze beneficiary for another property.
The three funding levels and income thresholds
How much you get depends on your income:
- Basic level - annual income up to 135,000 zł
- Elevated level - monthly income per household member up to 2,250 zł in a multi-person household or 3,150 zł in a single-person one
- Highest level - monthly income up to 1,300 zł (multi-person) or 1,800 zł (single-person), or you receive certain social benefits such as the permanent, period or family allowance
If you run a business, your annual revenue counts too: the cap is forty times the minimum wage at the basic level and twelve times at the elevated one. Married couples are always treated as one joint household. The highest level is reserved for buildings whose heating demand exceeds 140 kWh per square metre per year.
How much money is on the table
The grant caps are set per item and added up. As of the current rules (updated 18 June 2025), examples for a whole project including a ground-source heat pump are:
- a house needing under 80 kWh/m²/year: up to 34,840 zł (basic) or 60,970 zł (elevated)
- 80-140 kWh/m²/year: up to 54,040 zł or 94,570 zł
- over 140 kWh/m²/year: up to 68,040 zł, 119,070 zł, or 170,100 zł at the highest level
For an air-to-water heat pump the totals run from 22,920 zł up to 140,300 zł. The audit itself is subsidised at 480 to 1,200 zł depending on your level, and the energy certificate at 160 to 400 zł. Keep invoices realistic: the regional funds check prices against market rates and can reject inflated costs.
How to apply
Applications go to the regional environmental fund (WFOŚiGW) for the voivodeship where the building stands - a paper form sent to the wrong region will not be reviewed. You can apply online on gov.pl or in person. Two payment forms exist: a standard grant paid after you document the finished work (in one to three instalments), or prefinancing - money paid in advance against a pro-forma invoice - available at the elevated and highest levels through a programme operator who also guides you through the paperwork for free.
The programme hotline (22 340 40 80, weekdays 8:00-16:00) answers questions in Polish; many regional funds and operators have English-speaking staff.
Frequently asked questions
### I am a foreigner who bought a house in Poland. Can I apply?
Yes. The programme's conditions concern the property and your income, not nationality. A foreign national who has owned a Polish single-family home for at least three years (or inherited one) can apply on the same terms.
Can I get the money before the work starts?
Only at the elevated and highest funding levels, through the prefinancing path with a programme operator. At the basic level you pay first and the grant reimburses documented costs afterwards.
Do I have to replace the stove to get insulation money?
No. If your heat source is already clean and efficient, you can apply for a thermomodernisation-only project. If the project includes thermomodernisation, the building must end up at no more than 80 kWh/m²/year, with at least a 40% improvement.
Is the energy audit really required?
Yes, in the new programme running since 31 March 2025 the audit and its summary document are mandatory parts of the application, and both are themselves subsidised.
