San Francisco / Sunnyvale
Sunnyvale has 154,236 residents (give or take 68) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US0677000, checked 2026-10-19), about 6,992 people per square mile.
Sunnyvale is about 60 miles from the Census center point for San Francisco in a straight line and covers 22.06 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 Sunnyvale that is 94085, 94086, 94087, 94089 (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 Sunnyvale is $186,170 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US0677000, 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.
6,992 people per square mile puts Sunnyvale in suburban density, where the outdoor unit usually sits in a side yard and the noise is not an issue for neighbors.
36% of Sunnyvale homes are single-family detached, 10% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 39% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US0677000, checked 2026-10-19).
56% of Sunnyvale homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US0677000, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 36% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Sunnyvale has 15 points fewer detached houses than Santa Clara County overall (51%) and 10 points more five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 29% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US06085, checked 2026-10-19).
56% of Sunnyvale homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US0677000, 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 60,293 occupied homes in Sunnyvale, 52% heat with natural gas, 0% with heating oil, 44% with electricity and 1% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US0677000, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 52% of Sunnyvale against electricity at 44%, and a cold-climate heat pump sized for this market replaces the gas system outright, so the usual quote is a whole-home install.
Sunnyvale has about the Santa Clara County oil share of 0% and 8 points more electric heat than the county's 36% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US06085, checked 2026-10-19).
No electric utility is on file for Sunnyvale on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
Sunnyvale has 63,239 housing units, 2% built before 1940 and 57% before 1980, with 20% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US0677000, checked 2026-10-19).
Sunnyvale has 3 points fewer pre-1940 homes than Santa Clara County as a whole (5%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US06085, checked 2026-10-19).
The median Sunnyvale home was built in 1976 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US0677000, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 4.3 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US0677000, checked 2026-10-19).
Heating design temperature: 27F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Santa Clara County row, 99% heating, PDF pages 11 to 13 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 27F figure is the Santa Clara County cold-day number a Sunnyvale heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 27F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 52% of Sunnyvale on gas and 44% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Sunnyvale home has 4.3 rooms and was built around 1976, 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 Sunnyvale. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Sunnyvale yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.