Manchester / Keene
Keene has 22,939 residents (give or take 25) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US3300539300, checked 2026-10-19), about 618 people per square mile.
Keene is about 44 miles from the Census center point for Manchester in a straight line and covers 37.092 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 Keene that is 03431 (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 Keene is $78,445 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US3300539300, 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.
46% of Keene homes are single-family detached, 20% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 26% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US3300539300, checked 2026-10-19).
45% of Keene homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US3300539300, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 46% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Keene has 23 points fewer detached houses than Cheshire County overall (69%) and 14 points more five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 12% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US33005, checked 2026-10-19).
45% of Keene homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US3300539300, 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 9,399 occupied homes in Keene, 9% heat with natural gas, 54% with heating oil, 18% with electricity and 14% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US3300539300, checked 2026-10-19).
Heating oil is the largest single fuel in Keene at 54%, ahead of electricity at 18%, 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.
Keene has 3 points less oil heat than Cheshire County as a whole, where 57% of homes burn oil, and 8 points more electric heat than the county's 10% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US33005, checked 2026-10-19).
Eversource lists Keene 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 Keene address before counting it. With 18% of Keene homes already on electric heat and 77% on gas, oil or propane, the row that applies depends on the name on the electric bill and the fuel coming out.
Keene has 10,540 housing units, 34% built before 1940 and 72% before 1980, with 10% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US3300539300, checked 2026-10-19).
Keene has 7 points more pre-1940 homes than Cheshire County as a whole (27%) and 6 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 16% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US33005, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Keene home was built in 1961 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US3300539300, 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=060XX00US3300539300, checked 2026-10-19).
34% of Keene homes were built before 1940 and 72% before 1980 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US3300539300, checked 2026-10-19), so insulation is the first sizing question: an older home leaks more heat per square foot, and the installer runs a room-by-room heat-loss calculation to size the system for what the walls and windows actually hold in, not just the floor plan.
Heating design temperature: -4F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Cheshire 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 -4F figure is the Cheshire County cold-day number a Keene heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at -4F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask what happens to the oil tank, since 54% of the 9,399 occupied Keene homes have one and removal is usually a separate line on the quote.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Keene house from before 1940 (34% of the 10,540 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Keene. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Keene yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.