Raleigh / Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill has 61,607 residents (give or take 41) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US3711800, checked 2026-10-19), about 2,840 people per square mile.
Chapel Hill is about 23 miles from the Census center point for Raleigh in a straight line and covers 21.695 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 Chapel Hill that is 27514, 27599 (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 Chapel Hill is $85,989 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US3711800, 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.
41% of Chapel Hill homes are single-family detached, 8% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 36% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US3711800, checked 2026-10-19).
53% of Chapel Hill homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US3711800, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 41% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Chapel Hill has 18 points fewer detached houses than Orange County overall (59%) and 14 points more five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 22% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US37135, checked 2026-10-19).
53% of Chapel Hill homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US3711800, 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 21,189 occupied homes in Chapel Hill, 40% heat with natural gas, 0% with heating oil, 57% with electricity and 2% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US3711800, checked 2026-10-19).
Electricity already heats 57% of Chapel Hill homes, ahead of gas at 40%, and a home on electric baseboard sees the biggest bill change from a heat pump because it replaces resistance heat one for one.
Chapel Hill has about the Orange County oil share of 0% and 3 points less electric heat than the county's 60% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US37135, checked 2026-10-19).
No electric utility is on file for Chapel Hill on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
Chapel Hill has 23,581 housing units, 3% built before 1940 and 35% before 1980, with 32% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US3711800, checked 2026-10-19).
Chapel Hill tracks Orange County on housing age, with the county at 4% pre-1940 and 33% post-2000 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US37135, checked 2026-10-19).
The median Chapel Hill home was built in 1988 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US3711800, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US3711800, checked 2026-10-19).
Heating design temperature: 20F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Orange County row, 99% heating, PDF pages 86 to 90 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 20F figure is the Orange County cold-day number a Chapel Hill heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 20F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Chapel Hill home has 5 rooms and was built around 1988, 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 Chapel Hill. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Chapel Hill yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.