Grand Rapids / Clare
Clare has 3,324 residents (give or take 113) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US2615920, checked 2026-10-19), about 890 people per square mile.
Clare is about 75 miles from the Census center point for Grand Rapids in a straight line and covers 3.734 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 1,409 occupied homes in Clare, 77% heat with natural gas, 1% with heating oil, 13% with electricity and 2% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US2615920, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 77% of Clare against electricity at 13%, 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.
Clare has about the Clare County oil share of 1% and 6 points more electric heat than the county's 7% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US26035, checked 2026-10-19).
Clare has 1,622 housing units, 17% built before 1940 and 78% before 1980, with 10% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US2615920, checked 2026-10-19).
Clare has 12 points more pre-1940 homes than Clare County as a whole (5%) and 5 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 15% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US26035, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Clare home was built in 1966 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US2615920, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.9 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US2615920, checked 2026-10-19).
60% of Clare homes are single-family detached, 8% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 25% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US2615920, checked 2026-10-19).
41% of Clare homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US2615920, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 60% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Clare has 19 points fewer detached houses than Clare County overall (79%) and 22 points more five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 3% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US26035, checked 2026-10-19).
41% of Clare homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US2615920, 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.
78% of Clare homes were built before 1980 and only 10% in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US2615920, checked 2026-10-19), so most of the stock predates modern insulation codes; the installer's heat-loss calculation, not a square-footage rule, decides the tonnage.
No electric utility is on file for Clare on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
DTE Energy heating and cooling rebates (southeast Michigan only), run by DTE Energy, is a live program for Michigan addresses and covers qualifying equipment at $1,500 per system (registry row 19 verified 2026-10-15, https://www.dteenergy.com/us/en/residential/save-money-energy/rebates-and-offers/air-conditioners.html, checked 2026-10-16); confirm eligibility for the Clare address before counting it. With 13% of Clare homes already on electric heat and 80% on gas, oil or propane, the row that applies depends on the name on the electric bill and the fuel coming out.
Consumers Energy Home Solutions 2026 (ASHP), run by Consumers Energy, is a live program for Michigan addresses and lists a standard figure of $300 (registry row 50 verified 2026-10-15, https://www.consumersenergy.com/residential/savings-and-clean-energy/rebates/heating-and-cooling, checked 2026-10-16); confirm eligibility for the Clare address before counting it.
Median household income in Clare is $41,226 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US2615920, 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: -2F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Clare County row, 99% heating, PDF pages 56 to 60 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 -2F figure is the Clare County cold-day number a Clare heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at -2F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 77% of Clare on gas and 13% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Clare home has 5.9 rooms and was built around 1966, 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 Clare. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Clare yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.