Boston / Wellesley
Wellesley is about 14 miles from the Census center point for Boston in a straight line and covers 10.021 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).
Wellesley has 30,347 residents (give or take 38) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2502174175, checked 2026-10-19), about 3,028 people per square mile.
The quote form takes a ZIP code; for Wellesley that is 02457, 02481, 02482 (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).
3,028 people per square mile puts Wellesley in suburban density, where the outdoor unit usually sits in a side yard and the noise is not an issue for neighbors.
Of the 9,174 occupied homes in Wellesley, 70% heat with natural gas, 15% with heating oil, 13% with electricity and 1% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2502174175, checked 2026-10-19).
Wellesley has 8 points less oil heat than Norfolk County as a whole, where 23% of homes burn oil, and 5 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).
Gas leads in Wellesley at 70%, but 16% of homes still burn delivered oil or propane, and those 1,468 or so homes are where a heat pump pays back fastest.
The median Wellesley home was built in 1955 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2502174175, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 8.1 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US2502174175, checked 2026-10-19).
Wellesley has 9,400 housing units, 34% built before 1940 and 72% before 1980, with 19% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2502174175, checked 2026-10-19).
Wellesley has 8 points more pre-1940 homes than Norfolk County as a whole (26%) and 4 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=050XX00US25021, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
Only 19% of Wellesley homes are new enough to pass the whole-home rebate's weatherization check on age, and 34% date from before 1940, so most of the other 81% show it with a home energy assessment before the heat pump goes in.
82% of Wellesley homes are single-family detached, 4% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 11% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2502174175, checked 2026-10-19).
With 82% detached houses and 4% in small multi-family buildings, a Wellesley quote is usually one or two outdoor units with ducted or ductless heads sized room by room. With 16% of Wellesley homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2502174175, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
Wellesley has 25 points more detached houses than Norfolk County overall (57%) and 14 points fewer five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 25% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US25021, checked 2026-10-19).
Eversource Energy lists Wellesley 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).
Wellesley is also on the state table of towns served by a municipal light plant, Wellesley Municipal Light Plant (Massachusetts municipally-owned electric companies, https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-municipally-owned-electric-companies, checked 2026-10-19).
Two names can appear in Wellesley, so the electric bill decides: a Mass Save sponsor on the bill means the Mass Save path below, and Wellesley Municipal Light Plant means its own rebate schedule.
For a Wellesley 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 Wellesley is $250,001 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2502174175, 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), 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 Wellesley 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 70% of Wellesley on gas and 13% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Wellesley house from before 1940 (34% of the 9,400 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Wellesley. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Wellesley yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.