Newark / Caldwell
Caldwell has 9,003 residents (give or take 26) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US3409250, checked 2026-10-19), about 7,643 people per square mile.
Caldwell is about 10 miles from the Census center point for Newark in a straight line and covers 1.178 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 Caldwell is $96,824 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US3409250, 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.
7,643 people per square mile puts Caldwell in suburban density, where the outdoor unit usually sits in a side yard and the noise is not an issue for neighbors.
28% of Caldwell homes are single-family detached, 19% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 44% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US3409250, checked 2026-10-19).
With 44% of Caldwell homes in buildings of five or more units and 28% detached, the condo association usually decides where outdoor units can go, so that approval comes before the quote. With 58% of Caldwell homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US3409250, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
Caldwell has 5 points fewer detached houses than Essex County overall (33%) and 13 points more five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 31% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US34013, checked 2026-10-19).
58% of Caldwell homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US3409250, 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 3,799 occupied homes in Caldwell, 76% heat with natural gas, 1% with heating oil, 15% with electricity and 4% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US3409250, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 76% of Caldwell against electricity at 15%, 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.
Caldwell has 3 points less oil heat than Essex County as a whole, where 4% of homes burn oil, and 4 points less electric heat than the county's 19% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US34013, checked 2026-10-19).
No electric utility is on file for Caldwell on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
JCP&L Clean Comfort (residential building decarbonization), run by JCP&L, is a live program for New Jersey addresses and covers qualifying equipment at $7,500 per system (registry row 8 verified 2026-10-15, https://www.neifund.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/0925_JCPL_Res_Bldg-Decarb_5860532_FRM_Rebate-Application_2025.pdf, checked 2026-10-16); confirm eligibility for the Caldwell address before counting it. With 15% of Caldwell homes already on electric heat and 81% on gas, oil or propane, the row that applies depends on the name on the electric bill and the fuel coming out.
Caldwell has 3,926 housing units, 30% built before 1940 and 73% before 1980, with 8% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US3409250, checked 2026-10-19).
Caldwell has 5 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 13% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US34013, checked 2026-10-19).
The median Caldwell home was built in 1959 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US3409250, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 4.5 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US3409250, checked 2026-10-19).
30% of Caldwell homes were built before 1940 and 73% before 1980 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US3409250, 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: 9F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Essex County row, 99% heating, PDF pages 81 to 82 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 9F figure is the Essex County cold-day number a Caldwell heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 9F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 76% of Caldwell on gas and 15% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Caldwell house from before 1940 (30% of the 3,926 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Caldwell. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Caldwell yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.