Boston / Belmont
Belmont has 27,175 residents (give or take 44) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2501705070, checked 2026-10-19), about 5,848 people per square mile.
Belmont is about 9 miles from the Census center point for Boston in a straight line and covers 4.647 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 Belmont that is 02478 (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).
Median household income in Belmont is $183,137 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2501705070, 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.
5,848 people per square mile puts Belmont in suburban density, where the outdoor unit usually sits in a side yard and the noise is not an issue for neighbors.
45% of Belmont homes are single-family detached, 38% 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=060XX00US2501705070, checked 2026-10-19).
A two- or three-family building is the common Belmont case at 38% of the stock against 45% detached houses, and each unit usually gets its own small outdoor unit and its own rebate account rather than one big system for the building. With 35% of Belmont homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2501705070, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
Belmont has 15 points fewer five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 25% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US25017, checked 2026-10-19).
Of the 10,412 occupied homes in Belmont, 70% heat with natural gas, 18% with heating oil, 10% with electricity and 2% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2501705070, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas leads in Belmont at 70%, but 20% of homes still burn delivered oil or propane, and those 2,082 or so homes are where a heat pump pays back fastest.
Belmont has about the Middlesex County oil share of 18% and 8 points less electric heat than the county's 18% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US25017, checked 2026-10-19).
Eversource Energy lists Belmont 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).
Belmont is also on the state table of towns served by a municipal light plant, Belmont Municipal Light Department (Massachusetts municipally-owned electric companies, https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-municipally-owned-electric-companies, checked 2026-10-19).
Two names can appear in Belmont, so the electric bill decides: a Mass Save sponsor on the bill means the Mass Save path below, and Belmont Municipal Light Department means its own rebate schedule.
For a Belmont 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).
Belmont has 10,881 housing units, 57% built before 1940 and 87% before 1980, with 9% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2501705070, checked 2026-10-19).
Belmont has 25 points more pre-1940 homes than Middlesex County as a whole (32%) and 6 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 15% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US25017, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Belmont home was built in 1938 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2501705070, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 6.4 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US2501705070, checked 2026-10-19).
With 57% of homes built before 1940 and only 9% new enough to pass on age, the first question for a Belmont house is insulation: the whole-home rebate wants proof the house is weatherized, and a no-cost home energy assessment is the usual way an older home shows it.
Heating design temperature: 1F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Middlesex 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 1F figure is the Middlesex County cold-day number a Belmont heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 1F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 70% of Belmont on gas and 10% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Belmont house from before 1940 (57% of the 10,881 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Belmont. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Belmont yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.