Harrisburg / Erie
Erie has 93,850 residents (give or take 65) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US4224000, checked 2026-10-19), about 4,905 people per square mile.
Erie is about 209 miles from the Census center point for Harrisburg in a straight line and covers 19.132 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 Erie that is 16501, 16502, 16503, 16504, 16507, 16508, 16546, 16550 (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).
4,905 people per square mile puts Erie in suburban density, where the outdoor unit usually sits in a side yard and the noise is not an issue for neighbors.
Of the 39,848 occupied homes in Erie, 84% heat with natural gas, 1% with heating oil, 11% with electricity and 2% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US4224000, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 84% of Erie against electricity at 11%, 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.
Erie has about the Erie County oil share of 2% and the same 11% electric share (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US42049, checked 2026-10-19).
Erie has 43,681 housing units, 39% built before 1940 and 89% before 1980, with 3% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US4224000, checked 2026-10-19).
Erie has 15 points more pre-1940 homes than Erie County as a whole (24%) and 9 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 12% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US42049, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Erie home was built in 1949 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US4224000, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.7 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US4224000, checked 2026-10-19).
61% of Erie homes are single-family detached, 22% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 14% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US4224000, checked 2026-10-19).
46% of Erie homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US4224000, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 61% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Erie has 7 points fewer detached houses than Erie County overall (68%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US42049, checked 2026-10-19).
46% of Erie homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US4224000, 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.
39% of Erie homes were built before 1940 and 89% before 1980 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US4224000, 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.
No electric utility is on file for Erie on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
Median household income in Erie is $46,113 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US4224000, 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: 4F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Erie 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 4F figure is the Erie County cold-day number a Erie 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 whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 84% of Erie on gas and 11% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Erie house from before 1940 (39% of the 43,681 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Erie. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Erie yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.