Hempstead / Shelter Island
Shelter Island has 3,355 residents (give or take 448) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US3610366839, checked 2026-10-19), about 275 people per square mile.
Shelter Island is about 72 miles from the Census center point for Hempstead in a straight line and covers 12.197 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 Shelter Island that is 11964, 11965 (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).
Shelter Island is spread out at 275 people per square mile across 12.197 square miles of land, so a long refrigerant line run between the outdoor unit and the farthest indoor head is the sizing question an installer checks first.
Of the 1,381 occupied homes in Shelter Island, 0% heat with natural gas, 78% with heating oil, 11% with electricity and 11% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US3610366839, checked 2026-10-19).
Heating oil is the largest single fuel in Shelter Island at 78%, ahead of electricity at 11%, so the usual job here is an oil boiler or furnace coming out and a cold-climate heat pump going in, with the oil tank removed.
Shelter Island has 34 points more oil heat than Suffolk County as a whole, where 44% of homes burn oil, and 2 points more electric heat than the county's 9% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US36103, checked 2026-10-19).
Shelter Island has 3,440 housing units, 23% built before 1940 and 50% before 1980, with 19% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US3610366839, checked 2026-10-19).
Shelter Island has 14 points more pre-1940 homes than Suffolk County as a whole (9%) and 6 points more homes built after 2000 than the county's 13% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US36103, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Shelter Island home was built in 1980 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US3610366839, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 6.6 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US3610366839, checked 2026-10-19).
96% of Shelter Island homes are single-family detached, 1% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 0% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US3610366839, checked 2026-10-19).
With 96% detached houses and 1% in small multi-family buildings, a Shelter Island quote is usually one or two outdoor units with ducted or ductless heads sized room by room. With 5% of Shelter Island homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US3610366839, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
Shelter Island has 16 points more detached houses than Suffolk County overall (80%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US36103, checked 2026-10-19).
Only 5% of Shelter Island homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US3610366839, checked 2026-10-19), so nearly every quote here is the resident talking to the installer directly, and the rebate goes to the person living in the house.
No electric utility is on file for Shelter Island on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
NYS Clean Heat (Con Edison), run by Con Edison, is a live program for New York addresses and lists a standard figure of $7,000 (registry row 5 verified 2026-10-16, https://www.coned.com/en/save-money/rebates-incentives-tax-credits/rebates-incentives-tax-credits-for-residential-customers/electric-heating-and-cooling-technology-for-renters-homeowners/save-on-a-central-air-source-heat-pump, checked 2026-10-16); confirm eligibility for the Shelter Island address before counting it. With 11% of Shelter Island homes already on electric heat and 89% 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 Shelter Island is $133,967 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US3610366839, 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: 7F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Suffolk County row, 99% heating, PDF pages 84 to 86 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 7F figure is the Suffolk County cold-day number a Shelter Island heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 7F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask what happens to the oil tank, since 78% of the 1,381 occupied Shelter Island homes have one and removal is usually a separate line on the quote.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Shelter Island home has 6.6 rooms and was built around 1980, 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 Shelter Island. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Shelter Island yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.