Madison / Richland Center
Richland Center has 5,109 residents (give or take 25) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US5567625, checked 2026-10-19), about 1,089 people per square mile.
Richland Center is about 51 miles from the Census center point for Madison in a straight line and covers 4.692 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 2,411 occupied homes in Richland Center, 70% heat with natural gas, 4% with heating oil, 19% with electricity and 3% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US5567625, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 70% of Richland Center against electricity at 19%, 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.
Richland Center has about the Richland County oil share of 2% and 9 points more electric heat than the county's 10% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US55103, checked 2026-10-19).
Richland Center has 2,641 housing units, 31% built before 1940 and 74% before 1980, with 8% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US5567625, checked 2026-10-19).
Richland Center has 3 points more pre-1940 homes than Richland County as a whole (28%) and 9 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 17% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US55103, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Richland Center home was built in 1961 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US5567625, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US5567625, checked 2026-10-19).
61% of Richland Center homes are single-family detached, 20% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 17% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US5567625, checked 2026-10-19).
49% of Richland Center homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US5567625, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 61% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Richland Center has 20 points fewer detached houses than Richland County overall (81%) and 11 points more five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 6% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US55103, checked 2026-10-19).
49% of Richland Center homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US5567625, 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.
31% of Richland Center homes were built before 1940 and 74% before 1980 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US5567625, 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 Richland Center 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 Richland Center address before counting it. With 19% of Richland Center homes already on electric heat and 77% on gas, oil or propane, the row that applies depends on the name on the electric bill and the fuel coming out.
Median household income in Richland Center is $51,932 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US5567625, 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: -6F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Richland 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 Richland County cold-day number a Richland Center 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 70% of Richland Center on gas and 19% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Richland Center house from before 1940 (31% of the 2,641 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Richland Center. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Richland Center yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.