Portland / Damariscotta
Damariscotta has 2,192 residents (give or take 311) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2301516235, checked 2026-10-19), about 176 people per square mile.
Damariscotta is about 44 miles from the Census center point for Portland in a straight line and covers 12.434 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 Damariscotta that is 04543 (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).
Damariscotta is spread out at 176 people per square mile across 12.434 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 988 occupied homes in Damariscotta, 2% heat with natural gas, 51% with heating oil, 12% with electricity and 28% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2301516235, checked 2026-10-19).
Heating oil is the largest single fuel in Damariscotta at 51%, ahead of propane at 28%, 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.
Damariscotta has 5 points less oil heat than Lincoln County as a whole, where 56% of homes burn oil, and 4 points more electric heat than the county's 8% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US23015, checked 2026-10-19).
Damariscotta has 1,302 housing units, 24% built before 1940 and 49% before 1980, with 20% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2301516235, checked 2026-10-19).
Damariscotta tracks Lincoln County on housing age, with the county at 26% pre-1940 and 21% post-2000 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US23015, checked 2026-10-19).
The median Damariscotta home was built in 1981 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2301516235, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.5 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US2301516235, checked 2026-10-19).
68% of Damariscotta homes are single-family detached, 12% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 10% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2301516235, checked 2026-10-19).
30% of Damariscotta homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2301516235, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 68% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Damariscotta has 16 points fewer detached houses than Lincoln County overall (84%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US23015, checked 2026-10-19).
No electric utility is on file for Damariscotta 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 Damariscotta address before counting it. With 12% of Damariscotta 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.
Median household income in Damariscotta is $59,423 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2301516235, 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: -2F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Lincoln 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 -2F figure is the Lincoln County cold-day number a Damariscotta heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at -2F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask what happens to the oil tank, since 51% of the 988 occupied Damariscotta homes have one and removal is usually a separate line on the quote.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Damariscotta home has 5.5 rooms and was built around 1981, 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 Damariscotta. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Damariscotta yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.