Boston / Barnstable
Barnstable has 49,568 residents (give or take 34) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2500103690, checked 2026-10-19), about 827 people per square mile.
Barnstable is about 58 miles from the Census center point for Boston in a straight line and covers 59.929 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 Barnstable that is 02601, 02630, 02632, 02635, 02637, 02647, 02648, 02655 and 2 more (Census 2020 ZCTA to county subdivision relationship file, ZIP areas at least 20% inside the town, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_cousub20_natl.txt, checked 2026-10-19).
Of the 21,413 occupied homes in Barnstable, 69% heat with natural gas, 11% with heating oil, 15% with electricity and 3% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2500103690, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 69% of Barnstable against electricity at 15%, 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.
Barnstable has 8 points less oil heat than Barnstable County as a whole, where 19% of homes burn oil, and 2 points more electric heat than the county's 13% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US25001, checked 2026-10-19).
Barnstable has 27,656 housing units, 10% built before 1940 and 55% before 1980, with 12% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2500103690, checked 2026-10-19).
Barnstable tracks Barnstable County on housing age, with the county at 11% pre-1940 and 13% post-2000 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US25001, checked 2026-10-19).
The median Barnstable home was built in 1978 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2500103690, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 6 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US2500103690, checked 2026-10-19).
81% of Barnstable homes are single-family detached, 4% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 10% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2500103690, checked 2026-10-19).
With 81% detached houses and 4% in small multi-family buildings, a Barnstable quote is usually one or two outdoor units with ducted or ductless heads sized room by room. With 24% of Barnstable homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2500103690, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
Only 12% of Barnstable homes are new enough to pass the whole-home rebate's weatherization check on age, and 10% date from before 1940, so most of the other 88% show it with a home energy assessment before the heat pump goes in.
Eversource Energy lists Barnstable among the Massachusetts communities it serves for electricity (Eversource Energy communities we serve, https://www.eversource.com/residential/services/communities-we-serve, checked 2026-10-19).
For a Barnstable address billed by Eversource Energy, the Mass Save whole-home heat pump rebate is $2,650 per ton up to $8,500, and the partial-home rebate is $1,125 per ton up to $8,500; for projects installed on or after January 1, 2027, the whole-home figure drops to $2,350 per ton capped at $7,500 (Mass Save air-source heat pump rebates, https://www.masssave.com/residential/rebates-offers-services/heating-and-cooling/heat-pumps/air-source-heat-pumps, checked 2026-10-19).
Median household income in Barnstable is $91,982 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2500103690, checked 2026-10-19); Mass Save's enhanced heat pump incentives are income-based and decided household by household, so the town median only hints at how many neighbors qualify.
Heating design temperature: 10F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Barnstable County row, 99% heating, PDF page 56 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 10F figure is the Barnstable County cold-day number a Barnstable heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 10F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 69% of Barnstable on gas and 15% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Barnstable home has 6 rooms and was built around 1978, 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 Barnstable. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Barnstable yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.