Providence / Portsmouth
Portsmouth has 17,644 residents (give or take 24) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US4400557880, checked 2026-10-19), about 766 people per square mile.
Portsmouth is about 17 miles from the Census center point for Providence in a straight line and covers 23.025 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 Portsmouth that is 02871, 02872 (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).
Of the 7,541 occupied homes in Portsmouth, 27% heat with natural gas, 51% with heating oil, 12% with electricity and 6% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US4400557880, checked 2026-10-19).
Heating oil is the largest single fuel in Portsmouth at 51%, ahead of gas at 27%, 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.
Portsmouth has 7 points more oil heat than Newport County as a whole, where 44% of homes burn oil, and 1 points less electric heat than the county's 13% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US44005, checked 2026-10-19).
Portsmouth has 8,612 housing units, 15% built before 1940 and 62% before 1980, with 15% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US4400557880, checked 2026-10-19).
Portsmouth has 15 points fewer pre-1940 homes than Newport County as a whole (30%) and 3 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=050XX00US44005, checked 2026-10-19).
The median Portsmouth home was built in 1973 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US4400557880, 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=060XX00US4400557880, checked 2026-10-19).
75% of Portsmouth homes are single-family detached, 9% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 6% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US4400557880, checked 2026-10-19).
With 75% detached houses and 9% in small multi-family buildings, a Portsmouth quote is usually one or two outdoor units with ducted or ductless heads sized room by room. With 19% of Portsmouth homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US4400557880, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
Portsmouth has 12 points more detached houses than Newport County overall (63%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US44005, checked 2026-10-19).
Only 15% of Portsmouth homes are new enough to pass a weatherization check on age, and 15% date from before 1940, so most of the other 85% 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 Portsmouth, so this page does not say which utility bills the 7,541 occupied homes in Portsmouth; 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 Portsmouth 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 12% of Portsmouth homes, about 905 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 Portsmouth that is about 6,334 of the 7,541 occupied homes, the 27% on gas, 51% on oil and 6% 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 Portsmouth is $117,467 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US4400557880, checked 2026-10-19); Clean Heat Rhode Island is for household income below 150% of state median income, and the Portsmouth 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: 9F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Newport 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 9F figure is the Newport County cold-day number a Portsmouth heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 9F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask what happens to the oil tank, since 51% of the 7,541 occupied Portsmouth homes have one and removal is usually a separate line on the quote.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Portsmouth home has 6.1 rooms and was built around 1973, 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 Portsmouth. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Portsmouth yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.