Manchester / Chester
Chester has 5,300 residents (give or take 29) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US3301512100, checked 2026-10-19), about 204 people per square mile.
Chester is about 10 miles from the Census center point for Manchester in a straight line and covers 26.01 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 Chester that is 03036 (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).
Chester is spread out at 204 people per square mile across 26.01 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 1,850 occupied homes in Chester, 2% heat with natural gas, 60% with heating oil, 8% with electricity and 22% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US3301512100, checked 2026-10-19).
Heating oil is the largest single fuel in Chester at 60%, ahead of propane at 22%, 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.
Chester has 18 points more oil heat than Rockingham County as a whole, where 42% of homes burn oil, and 4 points less electric heat than the county's 12% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US33015, checked 2026-10-19).
Chester has 1,850 housing units, 16% built before 1940 and 36% before 1980, with 36% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US3301512100, checked 2026-10-19).
Chester has 4 points more pre-1940 homes than Rockingham County as a whole (12%) and 13 points more homes built after 2000 than the county's 23% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US33015, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Chester home was built in 1991 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US3301512100, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 7.2 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US3301512100, checked 2026-10-19).
88% of Chester homes are single-family detached, 4% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 0% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US3301512100, checked 2026-10-19).
With 88% detached houses and 4% 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 2% of Chester homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US3301512100, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
Chester has 23 points more detached houses than Rockingham County overall (65%) and 16 points fewer five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 16% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US33015, checked 2026-10-19).
Only 2% of Chester homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US3301512100, 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 and New Hampshire Electric Cooperative each list Chester for electric service (New Hampshire Department of Energy, utilities by city and town, https://www.energy.nh.gov/utilities-providers/utilities-city-town, checked 2026-10-19); the bill decides the rebate path.
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 Chester address before counting it. With 8% of Chester homes already on electric heat and 84% 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 Chester is $142,212 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US3301512100, 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), Rockingham 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 Rockingham County cold-day number a Chester 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 60% of the 1,850 occupied Chester homes have one and removal is usually a separate line on the quote.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Chester home has 7.2 rooms and was built around 1991, 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.