Manchester / Peterborough
Peterborough is about 26 miles from the Census center point for Manchester in a straight line and covers 38.02 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).
Peterborough has 6,408 residents (give or take 22) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US3301160580, checked 2026-10-19), about 169 people per square mile.
The quote form takes a ZIP code; for Peterborough that is 03458 (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).
Peterborough is spread out at 169 people per square mile across 38.02 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 3,024 occupied homes in Peterborough, 6% heat with natural gas, 49% with heating oil, 11% with electricity and 22% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US3301160580, checked 2026-10-19).
Peterborough has 20 points more oil heat than Hillsborough County as a whole, where 29% of homes burn oil, and 1 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 Peterborough at 49%, 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.
The median Peterborough home was built in 1970 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US3301160580, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.6 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US3301160580, checked 2026-10-19).
Peterborough has 3,478 housing units, 30% built before 1940 and 65% before 1980, with 19% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US3301160580, checked 2026-10-19).
Peterborough has 12 points more 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). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
30% of Peterborough homes were built before 1940 and 65% before 1980 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US3301160580, 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.
58% of Peterborough homes are single-family detached, 12% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 21% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US3301160580, checked 2026-10-19).
44% of Peterborough homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US3301160580, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 58% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
44% of Peterborough homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US3301160580, 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.
Eversource lists Peterborough 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 Peterborough address before counting it. With 11% of Peterborough 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.
Median household income in Peterborough is $98,401 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US3301160580, 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 Peterborough 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 49% of the 3,024 occupied Peterborough homes have one and removal is usually a separate line on the quote.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Peterborough house from before 1940 (30% of the 3,478 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Peterborough. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Peterborough yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.