Wilmington / Bear
Bear has 22,370 residents (give or take 1,698) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US1004130, checked 2026-10-19), about 3,868 people per square mile.
Bear is about 11 miles from the Census center point for Wilmington in a straight line and covers 5.784 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 Bear is $91,687 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US1004130, 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.
3,868 people per square mile puts Bear in suburban density, where the outdoor unit usually sits in a side yard and the noise is not an issue for neighbors.
32% of Bear homes are single-family detached, 1% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 20% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US1004130, checked 2026-10-19).
35% of Bear homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US1004130, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 32% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Bear has 21 points fewer detached houses than New Castle County overall (53%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US10003, checked 2026-10-19).
Of the 8,746 occupied homes in Bear, 53% heat with natural gas, 6% with heating oil, 34% with electricity and 6% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US1004130, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 53% of Bear against electricity at 34%, 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.
Bear has 3 points less oil heat than New Castle County as a whole, where 9% of homes burn oil, and 2 points more electric heat than the county's 32% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US10003, checked 2026-10-19).
No electric utility is on file for Bear on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
Bear has 9,094 housing units, 1% built before 1940 and 16% before 1980, with 39% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US1004130, checked 2026-10-19).
Bear has 10 points fewer pre-1940 homes than New Castle County as a whole (11%) and 19 points more homes built after 2000 than the county's 20% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US10003, checked 2026-10-19).
The median Bear home was built in 1996 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US1004130, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 6 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US1004130, checked 2026-10-19).
Heating design temperature: 11F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), New Castle County row, 99% heating, PDF page 17 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 11F figure is the New Castle County cold-day number a Bear heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 11F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 53% of Bear on gas and 34% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Bear home has 6 rooms and was built around 1996, 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 Bear. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Bear yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.