Columbus / Marion
Marion has 35,669 residents (give or take 104) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US3947754, checked 2026-10-19), about 2,751 people per square mile.
Marion is about 43 miles from the Census center point for Columbus in a straight line and covers 12.964 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 12,445 occupied homes in Marion, 77% heat with natural gas, 0% with heating oil, 20% with electricity and 2% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US3947754, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 77% of Marion against electricity at 20%, so most quotes here are a partial-home system that carries the shoulder seasons and the summer while the gas furnace handles the coldest nights, or a whole-home system when the house is ready for it.
Marion has about the Marion County oil share of 1% and 4 points less electric heat than the county's 24% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US39101, checked 2026-10-19).
Marion has 14,304 housing units, 38% built before 1940 and 84% before 1980, with 6% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US3947754, checked 2026-10-19).
Marion has 9 points more pre-1940 homes than Marion County as a whole (29%) and 5 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 11% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US39101, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Marion home was built in 1954 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US3947754, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.8 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US3947754, checked 2026-10-19).
72% of Marion homes are single-family detached, 13% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 11% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US3947754, checked 2026-10-19).
With 72% detached houses and 13% in small multi-family buildings, a Marion quote is usually one or two outdoor units with ducted or ductless heads sized room by room. With 43% of Marion homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US3947754, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
43% of Marion homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US3947754, 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.
38% of Marion homes were built before 1940 and 84% before 1980 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US3947754, checked 2026-10-19), so insulation is the first sizing question: an older home leaks more heat per square foot, and the installer runs a room-by-room heat-loss calculation to size the system for what the walls and windows actually hold in, not just the floor plan.
No electric utility is on file for Marion on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
Median household income in Marion is $47,951 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US3947754, 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: 5F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Marion County row, 99% heating, PDF pages 94 to 97 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 5F figure is the Marion County cold-day number a Marion heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 5F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 77% of Marion on gas and 20% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Marion house from before 1940 (38% of the 14,304 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Marion. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Marion yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.