Des Moines / Creston
Creston has 7,435 residents (give or take 36) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US1917265, checked 2026-10-19), about 1,433 people per square mile.
Creston is about 53 miles from the Census center point for Des Moines in a straight line and covers 5.189 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 3,358 occupied homes in Creston, 60% heat with natural gas, 0% with heating oil, 36% with electricity and 3% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US1917265, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 60% of Creston against electricity at 36%, 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.
Creston has about the Union County oil share of 0% and 5 points more electric heat than the county's 31% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US19175, checked 2026-10-19).
Creston has 3,765 housing units, 36% built before 1940 and 75% before 1980, with 11% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US1917265, checked 2026-10-19).
Creston tracks Union County on housing age, with the county at 36% pre-1940 and 13% post-2000 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US19175, checked 2026-10-19).
The median Creston home was built in 1961 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US1917265, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.6 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US1917265, checked 2026-10-19).
72% of Creston homes are single-family detached, 11% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 13% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US1917265, checked 2026-10-19).
With 72% detached houses and 11% in small multi-family buildings, a Creston quote is usually one or two outdoor units with ducted or ductless heads sized room by room. With 36% of Creston homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US1917265, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
36% of Creston homes were built before 1940 and 75% before 1980 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US1917265, 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 Creston on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
MidAmerican 2026 Instant Discount air source heat pump, run by MidAmerican Energy, is a live program for Iowa addresses and covers qualifying equipment at $1,200 per system (registry row 31 verified 2026-10-14, https://www.midamericanenergy.com/home-discounts-and-rebates, checked 2026-10-16); confirm eligibility for the Creston address before counting it. With 36% of Creston homes already on electric heat and 63% 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 Creston is $52,633 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US1917265, 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: 0F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Union County row, 99% heating, PDF pages 37 to 41 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 0F figure is the Union County cold-day number a Creston heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 0F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 60% of Creston on gas and 36% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Creston house from before 1940 (36% of the 3,765 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Creston. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Creston yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.