Boston / Norwood
Norwood has 31,542 residents (give or take 30) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2502150250, checked 2026-10-19), about 3,039 people per square mile.
Norwood is about 14 miles from the Census center point for Boston in a straight line and covers 10.379 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 Norwood that is 02062 (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 Norwood is $107,030 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2502150250, checked 2026-10-19); many state and utility heat pump rebate programs set higher incentive tiers for income-qualifying households, so the household income on the application, not the town median, decides which level applies.
3,039 people per square mile puts Norwood in suburban density, where the outdoor unit usually sits in a side yard and the noise is not an issue for neighbors.
47% of Norwood homes are single-family detached, 19% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 27% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2502150250, checked 2026-10-19).
46% of Norwood homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2502150250, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 47% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Norwood has 10 points fewer detached houses than Norfolk County overall (57%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US25021, checked 2026-10-19).
46% of Norwood homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2502150250, 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 13,259 occupied homes in Norwood, 62% heat with natural gas, 17% with heating oil, 17% with electricity and 2% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2502150250, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas leads in Norwood at 62%, but 19% of homes still burn delivered oil or propane, and those 2,519 or so homes are where a heat pump pays back fastest.
Norwood has 6 points less oil heat than Norfolk County as a whole, where 23% of homes burn oil, and 1 points less electric heat than the county's 18% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US25021, checked 2026-10-19).
Norwood is also on the state table of towns served by a municipal light plant, Norwood Municipal Light Department (Massachusetts municipally-owned electric companies, https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-municipally-owned-electric-companies, checked 2026-10-19).
Mass Save heat pump rebates are for electric accounts with Cape Light Compact, Eversource, National Grid or Unitil, so a Norwood home billed by Norwood Municipal Light Department asks the plant for its heat pump rebate instead.
Norwood has 13,815 housing units, 25% built before 1940 and 71% before 1980, with 13% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2502150250, checked 2026-10-19).
Norwood tracks Norfolk County on housing age, with the county at 26% pre-1940 and 15% post-2000 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US25021, checked 2026-10-19).
The median Norwood home was built in 1960 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2502150250, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.3 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US2502150250, checked 2026-10-19).
71% of Norwood homes were built before 1980 and only 13% in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2502150250, checked 2026-10-19), so most of the stock predates modern insulation codes; the installer's heat-loss calculation, not a square-footage rule, decides the tonnage.
Heating design temperature: 1F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Norfolk 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 Norfolk County cold-day number a Norwood 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 62% of Norwood on gas and 17% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Norwood home has 5.3 rooms and was built around 1960, 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 Norwood. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Norwood yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.