Harrisburg / Columbia
Columbia has 10,278 residents (give or take 25) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US4215384, checked 2026-10-19), about 4,258 people per square mile.
Columbia is about 26 miles from the Census center point for Harrisburg in a straight line and covers 2.414 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).
Median household income in Columbia is $54,437 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US4215384, 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.
4,258 people per square mile puts Columbia in suburban density, where the outdoor unit usually sits in a side yard and the noise is not an issue for neighbors.
30% of Columbia homes are single-family detached, 18% 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=160XX00US4215384, checked 2026-10-19).
47% of Columbia homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US4215384, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 30% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Columbia has 25 points fewer detached houses than Lancaster County overall (55%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US42071, checked 2026-10-19).
47% of Columbia homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US4215384, 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 4,568 occupied homes in Columbia, 52% heat with natural gas, 12% with heating oil, 32% with electricity and 1% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US4215384, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 52% of Columbia against electricity at 32%, so most quotes here are a partial-home system that carries the shoulder seasons and the summer while the gas furnace handles the coldest nights, or a whole-home system when the house is ready for it.
Columbia has 4 points less oil heat than Lancaster County as a whole, where 16% of homes burn oil, and 3 points less electric heat than the county's 35% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US42071, checked 2026-10-19).
No electric utility is on file for Columbia on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
Columbia has 4,936 housing units, 52% built before 1940 and 85% before 1980, with 2% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US4215384, checked 2026-10-19).
Columbia has 32 points more pre-1940 homes than Lancaster County as a whole (20%) and 19 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 21% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US42071, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Columbia home was built in 1938 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US4215384, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.5 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US4215384, checked 2026-10-19).
52% of Columbia homes were built before 1940 and 85% before 1980 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US4215384, 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: 8F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Lancaster County row, 99% heating, PDF pages 102 to 105 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 8F figure is the Lancaster County cold-day number a Columbia heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 8F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 52% of Columbia on gas and 32% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Columbia house from before 1940 (52% of the 4,936 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Columbia. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Columbia yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.