Boston / Chelsea
Chelsea has 39,908 residents (give or take 42) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2502513205, checked 2026-10-19), about 17,985 people per square mile.
Chelsea is about 4 miles from the Census center point for Boston in a straight line and covers 2.219 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 Chelsea that is 02150 (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 Chelsea is $72,179 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2502513205, 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.
At 17,985 people per square mile, Chelsea is dense enough that noise setback rules and outdoor-unit placement on a small lot are the first questions the installer works through.
8% of Chelsea homes are single-family detached, 43% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 44% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2502513205, checked 2026-10-19).
A two- or three-family building is the common Chelsea case at 43% of the stock against 8% 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 74% of Chelsea homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2502513205, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
Chelsea has 5 points fewer detached houses than Suffolk County overall (13%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US25025, checked 2026-10-19).
With 74% of Chelsea homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2502513205, checked 2026-10-19), most heat pump quotes here are landlord-driven: the landlord signs the contract and picks the equipment, and the tenant sees the lower bill.
Of the 13,716 occupied homes in Chelsea, 61% heat with natural gas, 6% with heating oil, 30% with electricity and 2% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2502513205, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 61% of Chelsea against electricity at 30%, 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.
Chelsea has about the Suffolk County oil share of 7% and 1 points less electric heat than the county's 31% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US25025, checked 2026-10-19).
Eversource Energy lists Chelsea 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 Chelsea 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).
Chelsea has 14,165 housing units, 50% built before 1940 and 69% before 1980, with 19% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2502513205, checked 2026-10-19).
Chelsea has 4 points more pre-1940 homes than Suffolk County as a whole (46%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US25025, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Chelsea home was built in 1941 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2502513205, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 4.3 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US2502513205, checked 2026-10-19).
With 50% of homes built before 1940 and only 19% new enough to pass on age, the first question for a Chelsea 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), Suffolk 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 Suffolk County cold-day number a Chelsea 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 61% of Chelsea on gas and 30% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Chelsea house from before 1940 (50% of the 14,165 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Chelsea. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Chelsea yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.