2027 energy check: it is possible to buy your firewood for this winter, up to 277 euros per household

As we enter the cold season, many homes are starting to turn on the heating. In one in ten homes, the main heating method is wood and this figure rises to one in four if we take into account additional heating. Suffice it to say that many households already have (or are in the process of) purchasing cubic meters of wood.

If the price of steres is rather stable this year, it has only increased over time and is proving quite heavy in the wallets of the French. To reduce this expense, many measures exist. We first think of reduced-price sloughing and cubic meters, systems put in place by many forestry municipalities again this fall. There is also state aid for installing wood or pellet stoves (MaPrimeRénov’ or “Coup de Pouce Heating”).

The energy check to pay the steres

One of these aids directly concerns the acquisition of firewood. This is the energy check. Certainly, the specific wood energy check only lasted between 2022 and 2024, but the classic energy check is still distributed each year to eligible households (around 4.5 million in 2026). Most beneficiaries received their check around April.

The amount of this check varies between 48 and 277 euros per household, according to a precise scale (reference tax income and consumption units). While it can be used to pay gas or electricity bills, it can also be used to pay wood-related expenses. All wood sellers identified as such are expected to accept a payment request via the energy check. However, it may happen that you receive a refusal. To avoid this happening, you just need to anticipate your approach.

Prevent payment refusal by energy check

The Ministry of Ecological Transition had to answer a question asked by an MP (Danielle Brulebois) and published in the Official Journal in 2019: what to do about professionals who refuse to cash energy checks for payment for firewood? The government's response is clear: “As wood expenses are among the eligible expenses, wood sellers [registered with the system] are required to accept the energy check as a method of payment. Any violation of this rule may be reported to the energy check user assistance, and be subject to administrative sanctions.” This obligation appears in article L. 124-1 of the energy code.

Let us insist: it is the “accepting” sellers, that is to say those who are registered with the system, who do not have the right to refuse your payment. But not all sellers are “accepting”.