Portland / Calais
Calais has 3,097 residents (give or take 26) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2302909585, checked 2026-10-19), about 90 people per square mile.
Calais is about 180 miles from the Census center point for Portland in a straight line and covers 34.323 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 Calais that is 04619 (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).
Calais is spread out at 90 people per square mile across 34.323 square miles of land, so a long refrigerant line run between the outdoor unit and the farthest indoor head is the sizing question an installer checks first.
Of the 1,420 occupied homes in Calais, 1% heat with natural gas, 59% with heating oil, 8% with electricity and 22% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2302909585, checked 2026-10-19).
Heating oil is the largest single fuel in Calais at 59%, ahead of propane at 22%, so the usual job here is an oil boiler or furnace coming out and a cold-climate heat pump going in, with the oil tank removed.
Calais has about the Washington County oil share of 59% and the same 8% electric share (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US23029, checked 2026-10-19).
Calais has 1,636 housing units, 37% built before 1940 and 70% before 1980, with 8% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2302909585, checked 2026-10-19).
Calais has 10 points more pre-1940 homes than Washington County as a whole (27%) and 10 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 18% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US23029, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Calais home was built in 1969 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2302909585, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 6.1 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US2302909585, checked 2026-10-19).
73% of Calais homes are single-family detached, 13% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 4% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2302909585, checked 2026-10-19).
With 73% detached houses and 13% in small multi-family buildings, a Calais quote is usually one or two outdoor units with ducted or ductless heads sized room by room. With 27% of Calais homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2302909585, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
Calais has 8 points fewer detached houses than Washington County overall (81%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US23029, checked 2026-10-19).
37% of Calais homes were built before 1940 and 70% before 1980 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2302909585, 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 Calais on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
Efficiency Maine whole-home heat pump rebate, run by Efficiency Maine, is a live program for Maine addresses and lists a standard figure of $3,000 (registry row 7 verified 2026-10-15, https://www.efficiencymaine.com/whole-home-heat-pump-rebates/, checked 2026-10-16); confirm eligibility for the Calais address before counting it. With 8% of Calais homes already on electric heat and 82% 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 Calais is $64,096 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2302909585, 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: 7F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Washington County row, 99% heating, PDF pages 54 to 55 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 7F figure is the Washington County cold-day number a Calais heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 7F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask what happens to the oil tank, since 59% of the 1,420 occupied Calais homes have one and removal is usually a separate line on the quote.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Calais house from before 1940 (37% of the 1,636 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Calais. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Calais yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.