Boston / Melrose
Melrose is about 8 miles from the Census center point for Boston in a straight line and covers 4.683 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).
Melrose has 29,650 residents (give or take 28) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2501740115, checked 2026-10-19), about 6,331 people per square mile.
The quote form takes a ZIP code; for Melrose that is 02176 (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).
6,331 people per square mile puts Melrose in suburban density, where the outdoor unit usually sits in a side yard and the noise is not an issue for neighbors.
Of the 12,401 occupied homes in Melrose, 63% heat with natural gas, 20% with heating oil, 14% with electricity and 1% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2501740115, checked 2026-10-19).
Melrose has about the Middlesex County oil share of 18% and 4 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 Melrose at 63%, but 21% of homes still burn delivered oil or propane, and those 2,604 or so homes are where a heat pump pays back fastest.
The median Melrose home was built in 1938 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2501740115, 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=060XX00US2501740115, checked 2026-10-19).
Melrose has 12,771 housing units, 52% built before 1940 and 84% before 1980, with 9% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2501740115, checked 2026-10-19).
Melrose has 20 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.
With 52% of homes built before 1940 and only 9% new enough to pass on age, the first question for a Melrose 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.
53% of Melrose homes are single-family detached, 14% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 28% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2501740115, checked 2026-10-19).
33% of Melrose homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2501740115, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 53% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Melrose has 7 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).
No electric utility is on file for Melrose on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
If the Melrose 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).
Median household income in Melrose is $133,953 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2501740115, 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: 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 Melrose 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 63% of Melrose on gas and 14% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Melrose house from before 1940 (52% of the 12,771 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Melrose. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Melrose yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.