Manchester / Amherst
Amherst is about 11 miles from the Census center point for Manchester in a straight line and covers 33.906 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).
Amherst has 11,861 residents (give or take 30) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US3301101300, checked 2026-10-19), about 350 people per square mile.
The quote form takes a ZIP code; for Amherst that is 03031 (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).
Amherst is spread out at 350 people per square mile across 33.906 square miles of land, so a long refrigerant line run between the outdoor unit and the farthest indoor head is the sizing question an installer checks first.
Of the 4,569 occupied homes in Amherst, 11% heat with natural gas, 50% with heating oil, 5% with electricity and 29% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US3301101300, checked 2026-10-19).
Amherst has 21 points more oil heat than Hillsborough County as a whole, where 29% of homes burn oil, and 7 points less electric heat than the county's 12% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US33011, checked 2026-10-19).
Heating oil is the largest single fuel in Amherst at 50%, ahead of propane at 29%, so the usual job here is an oil boiler or furnace coming out and a cold-climate heat pump going in, with the oil tank removed.
The median Amherst home was built in 1978 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US3301101300, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 7.7 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US3301101300, checked 2026-10-19).
Amherst has 4,584 housing units, 11% built before 1940 and 55% before 1980, with 15% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US3301101300, checked 2026-10-19).
Amherst has 7 points fewer pre-1940 homes than Hillsborough County as a whole (18%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US33011, checked 2026-10-19).
86% of Amherst homes are single-family detached, 3% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 3% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US3301101300, checked 2026-10-19).
With 86% detached houses and 3% in small multi-family buildings, a Amherst quote is usually one or two outdoor units with ducted or ductless heads sized room by room. With 8% of Amherst homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US3301101300, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
Amherst has 29 points more detached houses than Hillsborough County overall (57%) and 18 points fewer five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 21% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US33011, checked 2026-10-19).
Only 8% of Amherst homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US3301101300, checked 2026-10-19), so nearly every quote here is the resident talking to the installer directly, and the rebate goes to the person living in the house.
Eversource lists Amherst among the New Hampshire communities it serves for electricity (New Hampshire Department of Energy, utilities by city and town, https://www.energy.nh.gov/utilities-providers/utilities-city-town, checked 2026-10-19).
NHSaves air source heat pump rebate, run by NHSaves (Eversource, Liberty, Unitil), is a live program for New Hampshire addresses and lists a standard figure of $250 (registry row 6 verified 2026-10-14, https://nhsaves.com/residential/electric-heating-cooling-equipment/, checked 2026-10-16); confirm eligibility for the Amherst address before counting it. With 5% of Amherst homes already on electric heat and 90% on gas, oil or propane, the row that applies depends on the name on the electric bill and the fuel coming out.
Median household income in Amherst is $153,196 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US3301101300, 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: 0F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Hillsborough County row, 99% heating, PDF page 81 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 0F figure is the Hillsborough County cold-day number a Amherst heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 0F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask what happens to the oil tank, since 50% of the 4,569 occupied Amherst homes have one and removal is usually a separate line on the quote.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Amherst home has 7.7 rooms and was built around 1978, 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 Amherst. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Amherst yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.