Providence / Charlestown
Charlestown has 8,051 residents (give or take 26) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US4400914500, checked 2026-10-19), about 220 people per square mile.
Charlestown is about 34 miles from the Census center point for Providence in a straight line and covers 36.541 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 Charlestown that is 02813 (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).
Charlestown is spread out at 220 people per square mile across 36.541 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 3,493 occupied homes in Charlestown, 2% heat with natural gas, 59% with heating oil, 15% with electricity and 15% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US4400914500, checked 2026-10-19).
Heating oil is the largest single fuel in Charlestown at 59%, ahead of electricity at 15%, 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.
Charlestown has 19 points more oil heat than Washington County as a whole, where 40% of homes burn oil, and the same 15% electric share (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US44009, checked 2026-10-19).
Charlestown has 5,458 housing units, 13% built before 1940 and 50% before 1980, with 18% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US4400914500, checked 2026-10-19).
Charlestown has 4 points fewer pre-1940 homes than Washington County as a whole (17%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US44009, checked 2026-10-19).
The median Charlestown home was built in 1980 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US4400914500, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.7 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US4400914500, checked 2026-10-19).
87% of Charlestown homes are single-family detached, 8% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 3% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US4400914500, checked 2026-10-19).
With 87% detached houses and 8% in small multi-family buildings, a Charlestown quote is usually one or two outdoor units with ducted or ductless heads sized room by room. With 8% of Charlestown homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US4400914500, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
Charlestown has 10 points more detached houses than Washington County overall (77%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US44009, checked 2026-10-19).
Only 8% of Charlestown homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US4400914500, checked 2026-10-19), so nearly every quote here is the resident talking to the installer directly, and the rebate goes to the person living in the house.
Only 18% of Charlestown homes are new enough to pass a weatherization check on age, and 13% date from before 1940, so most of the other 82% show it with an assessment: Clean Heat Rhode Island requires that the home must be sufficiently weatherized: built on or after January 1, 2000, or all weatherization recommendations completed, or a home energy assessment showing under $1,000 in recommended work (Clean Heat Rhode Island incentives, registry row 2 verified 2026-10-14, https://cleanheatri.com/incentives, checked 2026-10-19).
Rhode Island Energy publishes no town-by-town service list that names Charlestown, so this page does not say which utility bills the 3,493 occupied homes in Charlestown; the state energy office says: "Rhode Island Energy, the largest of the three, manages the distribution system for 99 percent of the state; Block Island Power Company and the Pascoag Utility District serve the remaining areas on Block Island and in western Burrillville, respectively." (Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources, Learn About Electricity (electric distribution utilities and the areas they serve), https://energy.ri.gov/electric/learn-about-electricity, checked 2026-10-19). The name on the electric bill decides which rebate path applies.
If the Charlestown electric bill comes from Rhode Island Energy, the standard heat pump rebate is up to $625 per ton for Rhode Island Energy customers switching to central or mini-split electric heat pump equipment, and the enhanced rebate is $1,500 per ton for homes that currently heat with electric baseboards, for equipment installed through December 31, 2026; it is not income-based (Rhode Island Energy residential heat pump rebate, registry row 35 verified 2026-10-16, https://rienergy.com/site/ways-to-save/save-money-with-rebates-and-incentives/electric-heating-and-cooling, checked 2026-10-19). Electricity already heats 15% of Charlestown homes, about 524 of them, and those on baseboard are the ones the enhanced tier is written for.
Clean Heat Rhode Island is the state income-eligible program, separate from the utility rebate: it pays 60% of the heat pump system and installation cost up to $11,500 per address, with a $18,000 lifetime cap per address, for household income below 150% of state median income, for homes whose existing primary heat is natural gas, propane or oil; in Charlestown that is about 2,655 of the 3,493 occupied homes, the 2% on gas, 59% on oil and 15% on propane, and it is available to all Rhode Island electric utility customers (Rhode Island Energy, Clear River, Block Island Power) (Clean Heat Rhode Island incentives, registry row 2 verified 2026-10-14, https://cleanheatri.com/incentives, checked 2026-10-19).
Median household income in Charlestown is $109,404 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US4400914500, checked 2026-10-19); Clean Heat Rhode Island is for household income below 150% of state median income, and the Charlestown median sits under the one-person limit of $124,950 published for the program (Clean Heat Rhode Island incentives, registry row 2 verified 2026-10-14, https://cleanheatri.com/incentives, checked 2026-10-19), though the limit rises with household size and is decided household by household.
Heating design temperature: 7F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Washington County row, 99% heating, PDF page 105 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 Charlestown 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 3,493 occupied Charlestown homes have one and removal is usually a separate line on the quote.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Charlestown home has 5.7 rooms and was built around 1980, 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 Charlestown. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Charlestown yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.