Boston / Lowell
Lowell has 118,368 residents (give or take 49) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2501737000, checked 2026-10-19), about 8,697 people per square mile.
Lowell is about 26 miles from the Census center point for Boston in a straight line and covers 13.61 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 Lowell that is 01850, 01851, 01852, 01854 (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 Lowell is $78,658 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2501737000, 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 8,697 people per square mile, Lowell is dense enough that noise setback rules and outdoor-unit placement on a small lot are the first questions the installer works through.
30% of Lowell homes are single-family detached, 27% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 35% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2501737000, checked 2026-10-19).
57% of Lowell homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2501737000, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 30% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Lowell has 16 points fewer detached houses than Middlesex County overall (46%) and 10 points more 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).
57% of Lowell homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2501737000, checked 2026-10-19), so the market splits between resident-led jobs where the occupant picks the system and landlord-led jobs where they do not, and the rebate paperwork differs.
Of the 43,183 occupied homes in Lowell, 67% heat with natural gas, 5% with heating oil, 24% with electricity and 3% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2501737000, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 67% of Lowell against electricity at 24%, 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.
Lowell has 13 points less oil heat than Middlesex County as a whole, where 18% of homes burn oil, and 6 points more 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).
No electric utility is on file for Lowell on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
If the Lowell electric bill comes from one of the Mass Save sponsors (Cape Light Compact, Eversource, National Grid, Unitil), the 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).
Lowell has 44,850 housing units, 44% built before 1940 and 75% before 1980, with 10% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2501737000, checked 2026-10-19).
Lowell has 12 points more pre-1940 homes than Middlesex County as a whole (32%) and 5 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 Lowell home was built in 1953 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2501737000, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 4.8 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US2501737000, checked 2026-10-19).
With 44% of homes built before 1940 and only 10% new enough to pass on age, the first question for a Lowell 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 Lowell 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 67% of Lowell on gas and 24% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Lowell house from before 1940 (44% of the 44,850 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Lowell. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Lowell yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.