San Francisco / Redwood City
Redwood City has 82,447 residents (give or take 66) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US0660102, checked 2026-10-19), about 4,264 people per square mile.
Redwood City is about 47 miles from the Census center point for San Francisco in a straight line and covers 19.336 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 Redwood City that is 94061, 94063, 94065 (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 Redwood City is $157,814 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US0660102, 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.
4,264 people per square mile puts Redwood City in suburban density, where the outdoor unit usually sits in a side yard and the noise is not an issue for neighbors.
43% of Redwood City homes are single-family detached, 6% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 35% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US0660102, checked 2026-10-19).
51% of Redwood City homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US0660102, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 43% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Redwood City has 12 points fewer detached houses than San Mateo County overall (55%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US06081, checked 2026-10-19).
51% of Redwood City homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US0660102, 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.
Of the 29,951 occupied homes in Redwood City, 60% heat with natural gas, 0% with heating oil, 36% with electricity and 1% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US0660102, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 60% of Redwood City against electricity at 36%, and a cold-climate heat pump sized for this market replaces the gas system outright, so the usual quote is a whole-home install.
Redwood City has about the San Mateo County oil share of 0% and 4 points more electric heat than the county's 32% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US06081, checked 2026-10-19).
No electric utility is on file for Redwood City on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
Redwood City has 32,135 housing units, 8% built before 1940 and 64% before 1980, with 16% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US0660102, checked 2026-10-19).
Redwood City has 4 points more homes built after 2000 than the county's 12% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US06081, checked 2026-10-19).
The median Redwood City home was built in 1968 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US0660102, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 4.4 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US0660102, checked 2026-10-19).
64% of Redwood City homes were built before 1980 and only 16% in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US0660102, 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.
Heating design temperature: 29F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), San Mateo County row, 99% heating, PDF pages 11 to 13 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 29F figure is the San Mateo County cold-day number a Redwood City heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 29F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 60% of Redwood City on gas and 36% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Redwood City home has 4.4 rooms and was built around 1968, 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 Redwood City. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Redwood City yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.