Charleston / Chester
Chester has 5,218 residents (give or take 42) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US4514095, checked 2026-10-19), about 1,579 people per square mile.
Chester is about 148 miles from the Census center point for Charleston in a straight line and covers 3.304 square miles of land (Census 2024 Gazetteer internal points and land area, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/, checked 2026-10-19).
Of the 2,115 occupied homes in Chester, 52% heat with natural gas, 1% with heating oil, 43% with electricity and 1% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US4514095, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 52% of Chester against electricity at 43%, and a cold-climate heat pump sized for this market replaces the gas system outright, so the usual quote is a whole-home install.
Chester has about the Chester County oil share of 1% and 10 points less electric heat than the county's 53% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US45023, checked 2026-10-19).
Chester has 2,462 housing units, 16% built before 1940 and 75% before 1980, with 6% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US4514095, checked 2026-10-19).
Chester has 7 points more pre-1940 homes than Chester County as a whole (9%) and 11 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 17% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US45023, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Chester home was built in 1962 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US4514095, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.4 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US4514095, checked 2026-10-19).
73% of Chester homes are single-family detached, 14% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 7% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US4514095, checked 2026-10-19).
With 73% detached houses and 14% in small multi-family buildings, a Chester quote is usually one or two outdoor units with ducted or ductless heads sized room by room. With 41% of Chester homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US4514095, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
41% of Chester homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US4514095, checked 2026-10-19), so the market splits between resident-led jobs where the occupant picks the system and landlord-led jobs where they do not, and the rebate paperwork differs.
75% of Chester homes were built before 1980 and only 6% in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US4514095, checked 2026-10-19), so most of the stock predates modern insulation codes; the installer's heat-loss calculation, not a square-footage rule, decides the tonnage.
No electric utility is on file for Chester on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
Median household income in Chester is $46,138 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US4514095, checked 2026-10-19); many state and utility heat pump rebate programs set higher incentive tiers for income-qualifying households, so the household income on the application, not the town median, decides which level applies.
Heating design temperature: 23F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Chester County row, 99% heating, PDF pages 105 to 107 of 141 (Revised 11/11/2020), https://www.energystar.gov/sites/default/files/Design%20Temperature%20Limit%20Reference%20Guide%20(2019%20Ed)%20-%20ENERGY%20STAR%20Single-Family%20New%20Homes_Rev11.pdf, fetched 2026-10-19, 99%.
That 23F figure is the Chester County cold-day number a Chester heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 23F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 52% of Chester on gas and 43% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Chester home has 5.4 rooms and was built around 1962, and the count of heads and the tonnage follow the rooms and the insulation, not the square footage.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Chester. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Chester yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.