Wilmington / Claymont

Heat pump installation in Claymont, DE - rebates, sizing and local data

Claymont in numbers

Claymont has 8,786 residents (give or take 850) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US1015310, checked 2026-10-19), about 4,085 people per square mile.

Claymont is about 6 miles from the Census center point for Wilmington in a straight line and covers 2.151 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 Claymont that is 19703 (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).

Median household income in Claymont is $74,712 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US1015310, 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.

4,085 people per square mile puts Claymont in suburban density, where the outdoor unit usually sits in a side yard and the noise is not an issue for neighbors.

Multi-family first

41% of Claymont homes are single-family detached, 6% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 31% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US1015310, checked 2026-10-19).

44% of Claymont homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US1015310, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 41% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.

Claymont has 12 points fewer detached houses than New Castle County overall (53%) and 12 points more five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 19% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US10003, checked 2026-10-19).

44% of Claymont homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US1015310, 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.

Heating fuel in Claymont

Of the 4,302 occupied homes in Claymont, 60% heat with natural gas, 12% with heating oil, 25% with electricity and 1% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US1015310, checked 2026-10-19).

Gas heats 60% of Claymont against electricity at 25%, 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.

Claymont has 3 points more oil heat than New Castle County as a whole, where 9% of homes burn oil, and 7 points less 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).

Your utility and the rebate

No electric utility is on file for Claymont on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.

Age of the stock

Claymont has 4,520 housing units, 7% built before 1940 and 68% before 1980, with 19% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US1015310, checked 2026-10-19).

Claymont has 4 points fewer pre-1940 homes than New Castle County as a whole (11%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US10003, checked 2026-10-19).

The median Claymont home was built in 1964 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US1015310, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.4 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US1015310, checked 2026-10-19).

68% of Claymont homes were built before 1980 and only 19% in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US1015310, 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.

Sizing for New Castle County

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 Claymont 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.

Next step

Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 60% of Claymont on gas and 25% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.

Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Claymont home has 5.4 rooms and was built around 1964, 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 Claymont. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.

No local contractor is named on this door for Claymont yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.

Where should the follow-up go?

We will follow up by email. No calls.

No spam, no sold information. One follow-up about exactly this request.