Des Moines / Storm Lake
Storm Lake has 11,428 residents (give or take 49) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US1975630, checked 2026-10-19), about 2,106 people per square mile.
Storm Lake is about 110 miles from the Census center point for Des Moines in a straight line and covers 5.427 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 3,975 occupied homes in Storm Lake, 62% heat with natural gas, 0% with heating oil, 36% with electricity and 1% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US1975630, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 62% of Storm Lake 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.
Storm Lake has about the Buena Vista County oil share of 0% and 4 points more electric heat than the county's 32% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US19021, checked 2026-10-19).
Storm Lake has 4,198 housing units, 22% built before 1940 and 68% before 1980, with 16% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US1975630, checked 2026-10-19).
Storm Lake has 6 points fewer pre-1940 homes than Buena Vista County as a whole (28%) and 4 points more homes built after 2000 than the county's 12% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US19021, checked 2026-10-19).
The median Storm Lake home was built in 1968 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US1975630, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.1 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US1975630, checked 2026-10-19).
66% of Storm Lake homes are single-family detached, 9% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 19% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US1975630, checked 2026-10-19).
34% of Storm Lake homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US1975630, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 66% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Storm Lake has 10 points fewer detached houses than Buena Vista County overall (76%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US19021, checked 2026-10-19).
68% of Storm Lake homes were built before 1980 and only 16% in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US1975630, 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 Storm Lake 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 Storm Lake address before counting it. With 36% of Storm Lake 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 Storm Lake is $62,765 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US1975630, 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: -8F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Buena Vista 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 -8F figure is the Buena Vista County cold-day number a Storm Lake heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at -8F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 62% of Storm Lake 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; the median Storm Lake home has 5.1 rooms and was built around 1968, 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 Storm Lake. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Storm Lake yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.