Madison / Fitchburg
Fitchburg has 32,619 residents (give or take 39) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US5525950, checked 2026-10-19), about 926 people per square mile.
Fitchburg is about 7 miles from the Census center point for Madison in a straight line and covers 35.211 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 Fitchburg that is 53575, 53711, 53719 (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 Fitchburg is $86,516 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US5525950, 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.
38% of Fitchburg homes are single-family detached, 5% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 50% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US5525950, checked 2026-10-19).
With 50% of Fitchburg homes in buildings of five or more units and 38% detached, the condo association usually decides where outdoor units can go, so that approval comes before the quote. With 52% of Fitchburg homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US5525950, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
Fitchburg has 12 points fewer detached houses than Dane County overall (50%) and 16 points more five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 34% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US55025, checked 2026-10-19).
52% of Fitchburg homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US5525950, 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 15,703 occupied homes in Fitchburg, 64% heat with natural gas, 0% with heating oil, 32% with electricity and 2% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US5525950, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 64% of Fitchburg against electricity at 32%, 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.
Fitchburg has about the Dane County oil share of 0% and 7 points more electric heat than the county's 25% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US55025, checked 2026-10-19).
No electric utility is on file for Fitchburg on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
Focus on Energy air source heat pump instant discount (ratepayer), run by Focus on Energy, is a live program for Wisconsin addresses and covers qualifying equipment at $900 per system (registry row 20 verified 2026-10-07, https://assets.focusonenergy.com/production/docs/trade-ally/TAS-Trade-Ally-Solutions-Rebates-Overview-20260101_CLEAN.pdf, checked 2026-10-16); confirm eligibility for the Fitchburg address before counting it. With 32% of Fitchburg homes already on electric heat and 66% on gas, oil or propane, the row that applies depends on the name on the electric bill and the fuel coming out.
Fitchburg has 15,929 housing units, 2% built before 1940 and 27% before 1980, with 44% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US5525950, checked 2026-10-19).
Fitchburg has 8 points fewer pre-1940 homes than Dane County as a whole (10%) and 11 points more homes built after 2000 than the county's 33% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US55025, checked 2026-10-19).
The median Fitchburg home was built in 1996 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US5525950, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 4.6 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US5525950, checked 2026-10-19).
44% of Fitchburg housing was built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US5525950, checked 2026-10-19), and homes that recent usually meet the insulation codes in place at the time, so a heat pump sized to the floor plan lands closer to the real load than it would in an older neighborhood.
Heating design temperature: -6F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Dane County row, 99% heating, PDF pages 137 to 140 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 -6F figure is the Dane County cold-day number a Fitchburg heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at -6F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 64% of Fitchburg on gas and 32% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Fitchburg home has 4.6 rooms and was built around 1996, 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 Fitchburg. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Fitchburg yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.