Newark / Chester
Chester has 1,512 residents (give or take 183) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US3412580, checked 2026-10-19), about 949 people per square mile.
Chester is about 27 miles from the Census center point for Newark in a straight line and covers 1.593 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).
Of the 584 occupied homes in Chester, 70% heat with natural gas, 24% with heating oil, 6% with electricity and 0% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US3412580, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas leads in Chester at 70%, but 24% of homes still burn delivered oil or propane, and those 140 or so homes are where a heat pump pays back fastest.
Chester has 10 points more oil heat than Morris County as a whole, where 14% of homes burn oil, and 6 points less electric heat than the county's 12% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US34027, checked 2026-10-19).
Chester has 598 housing units, 18% built before 1940 and 63% before 1980, with 18% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US3412580, checked 2026-10-19).
Chester has 6 points more pre-1940 homes than Morris County as a whole (12%) and 4 points more homes built after 2000 than the county's 14% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US34027, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Chester home was built in 1971 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US3412580, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 7.7 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US3412580, checked 2026-10-19).
76% of Chester homes are single-family detached, 4% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 11% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US3412580, checked 2026-10-19).
With 76% detached houses and 4% in small multi-family buildings, a Chester quote is usually one or two outdoor units with ducted or ductless heads sized room by room. With 21% of Chester homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US3412580, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
Chester has 11 points more detached houses than Morris County overall (65%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US34027, checked 2026-10-19).
63% of Chester homes were built before 1980 and only 18% in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US3412580, checked 2026-10-19), so most of the stock predates modern insulation codes; the installer's heat-loss calculation, not a square-footage rule, decides the tonnage.
No electric utility is on file for Chester 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 Chester address before counting it. With 6% of Chester homes already on electric heat and 94% 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 Chester is $171,500 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US3412580, 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: 6F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Morris 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 6F figure is the Morris County cold-day number a Chester heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 6F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 70% of Chester on gas and 6% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Chester home has 7.7 rooms and was built around 1971, and the count of heads and the tonnage follow the rooms and the insulation, not the square footage.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Chester. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Chester yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.