Chicago / Charleston
Charleston has 17,062 residents (give or take 622) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US1712567, checked 2026-10-19), about 1,880 people per square mile.
Charleston is about 165 miles from the Census center point for Chicago in a straight line and covers 9.077 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 7,447 occupied homes in Charleston, 46% heat with natural gas, 0% with heating oil, 51% with electricity and 1% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US1712567, checked 2026-10-19).
Electricity already heats 51% of Charleston homes, ahead of gas at 46%, and a home on electric baseboard sees the biggest bill change from a heat pump because it replaces resistance heat one for one.
Charleston has about the Coles County oil share of 0% and 10 points more electric heat than the county's 41% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US17029, checked 2026-10-19).
Charleston has 8,181 housing units, 17% built before 1940 and 56% before 1980, with 13% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US1712567, checked 2026-10-19).
Charleston has 6 points fewer pre-1940 homes than Coles County as a whole (23%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US17029, checked 2026-10-19).
The median Charleston home was built in 1977 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US1712567, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US1712567, checked 2026-10-19).
51% of Charleston homes are single-family detached, 13% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 29% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US1712567, checked 2026-10-19).
52% of Charleston homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US1712567, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 51% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Charleston has 17 points fewer detached houses than Coles County overall (68%) and 13 points more five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 16% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US17029, checked 2026-10-19).
52% of Charleston homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US1712567, 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.
No electric utility is on file for Charleston on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
Ameren Illinois Instant Incentives (ducted ASHP), run by Ameren Illinois, is a live program for Illinois addresses and lists a standard figure of $900 (registry row 45 verified 2026-10-15, https://amerenillinoissavings.com/residential/ducted-air-source-heat-pump/, checked 2026-10-16); confirm eligibility for the Charleston address before counting it. With 51% of Charleston homes already on electric heat and 47% 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 Charleston is $49,300 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US1712567, 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: 3F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Coles County row, 99% heating, PDF pages 29 to 33 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 3F figure is the Coles County cold-day number a Charleston heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 3F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Charleston home has 5 rooms and was built around 1977, 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 Charleston. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Charleston yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.