Boston / Billerica

Heat pump installation in Billerica, MA - up to $8,500 Mass Save rebate

Billerica, 20 miles out

Billerica is about 20 miles from the Census center point for Boston in a straight line and covers 25.574 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).

Billerica has 42,003 residents (give or take 32) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2501705805, checked 2026-10-19), about 1,642 people per square mile.

The quote form takes a ZIP code; for Billerica that is 01821, 01862 (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).

What heats Billerica

Of the 15,502 occupied homes in Billerica, 71% heat with natural gas, 16% with heating oil, 8% with electricity and 4% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2501705805, checked 2026-10-19).

Billerica has about the Middlesex County oil share of 18% and 10 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).

Gas leads in Billerica at 71%, but 19% of homes still burn delivered oil or propane, and those 2,945 or so homes are where a heat pump pays back fastest.

Age of the housing

The median Billerica home was built in 1973 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2501705805, 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=060XX00US2501705805, checked 2026-10-19).

Billerica has 15,632 housing units, 10% built before 1940 and 62% before 1980, with 20% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2501705805, checked 2026-10-19).

Billerica has 22 points fewer pre-1940 homes than Middlesex County as a whole (32%) and 5 points more 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).

Only 20% of Billerica 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 80% show it with a home energy assessment before the heat pump goes in.

House type

73% of Billerica homes are single-family detached, 4% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 16% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2501705805, checked 2026-10-19).

With 73% detached houses and 4% in small multi-family buildings, a Billerica quote is usually one or two outdoor units with ducted or ductless heads sized room by room. With 21% of Billerica homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2501705805, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.

Billerica has 27 points more detached houses than Middlesex County overall (46%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US25017, checked 2026-10-19).

Utility and rebate

Eversource Energy lists Billerica 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 Billerica 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 Billerica is $148,200 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2501705805, 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.

Design temperature

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 Billerica 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.

Next step

Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 71% of Billerica on gas and 8% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.

Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Billerica home has 6.4 rooms and was built around 1973, 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 Billerica. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.

No local contractor is named on this door for Billerica yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.

Where should the follow-up go?

We will follow up by email. No calls.

No spam, no sold information. One follow-up about exactly this request.