Charleston / Columbia
Columbia has 139,643 residents (give or take 171) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US4516000, checked 2026-10-19), about 1,008 people per square mile.
Columbia is about 100 miles from the Census center point for Charleston in a straight line and covers 138.497 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).
The quote form takes a ZIP code; for Columbia that is 29201, 29204, 29205, 29206, 29207, 29208, 29210, 29212 and 1 more (Census 2020 ZCTA to county subdivision and ZCTA to place relationship files, ZIP areas at least 20% inside the town, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_cousub20_natl.txt and https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_place20_natl.txt, checked 2026-10-19).
Median household income in Columbia is $55,529 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US4516000, 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.
49% of Columbia homes are single-family detached, 11% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 33% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US4516000, checked 2026-10-19).
54% of Columbia homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US4516000, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 49% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Columbia has 15 points fewer detached houses than Richland County overall (64%) and 12 points more five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 21% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US45079, checked 2026-10-19).
54% of Columbia homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US4516000, 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.
Of the 53,076 occupied homes in Columbia, 26% heat with natural gas, 0% with heating oil, 72% with electricity and 1% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US4516000, checked 2026-10-19).
Electricity already heats 72% of Columbia homes, ahead of gas at 26%, and a home on electric baseboard sees the biggest bill change from a heat pump because it replaces resistance heat one for one.
Columbia has about the Richland County oil share of 0% and 1 points less electric heat than the county's 73% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US45079, checked 2026-10-19).
No electric utility is on file for Columbia on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
Columbia has 62,021 housing units, 10% built before 1940 and 49% before 1980, with 31% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US4516000, checked 2026-10-19).
Columbia has 6 points more pre-1940 homes than Richland County as a whole (4%) and 5 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 36% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US45079, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Columbia home was built in 1980 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US4516000, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.1 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US4516000, checked 2026-10-19).
Heating design temperature: 24F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Richland 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 24F figure is the Richland County cold-day number a Columbia heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 24F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Columbia home has 5.1 rooms and was built around 1980, 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 Columbia. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Columbia yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.