Worcester / Adams
Adams has 8,074 residents (give or take 19) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2500300555, checked 2026-10-19), about 353 people per square mile.
Adams is about 71 miles from the Census center point for Worcester in a straight line and covers 22.889 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 Adams that is 01220 (Census 2020 ZCTA to county subdivision and ZCTA to place relationship files, ZIP areas at least 20% inside the town, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_cousub20_natl.txt and https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_place20_natl.txt, checked 2026-10-19).
Median household income in Adams is $58,929 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2500300555, 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.
Adams is spread out at 353 people per square mile across 22.889 square miles of land, so a long refrigerant line run between the outdoor unit and the farthest indoor head is the sizing question an installer checks first.
49% of Adams homes are single-family detached, 31% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 17% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2500300555, checked 2026-10-19).
38% of Adams homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2500300555, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 49% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Adams has 17 points fewer detached houses than Berkshire County overall (66%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US25003, checked 2026-10-19).
Of the 4,046 occupied homes in Adams, 54% heat with natural gas, 33% with heating oil, 8% with electricity and 3% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2500300555, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas leads in Adams at 54%, but 36% of homes still burn delivered oil or propane, and those 1,457 or so homes are where a heat pump pays back fastest.
Adams has 3 points more oil heat than Berkshire County as a whole, where 30% of homes burn oil, and 3 points less electric heat than the county's 11% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US25003, checked 2026-10-19).
No electric utility is on file for Adams on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
If the Adams 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).
Adams has 4,363 housing units, 55% built before 1940 and 91% before 1980, with 4% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2500300555, checked 2026-10-19).
Adams has 20 points more pre-1940 homes than Berkshire County as a whole (35%) and 5 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 9% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US25003, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Adams home was built in 1938 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2500300555, 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=060XX00US2500300555, checked 2026-10-19).
With 55% of homes built before 1940 and only 4% new enough to pass on age, the first question for a Adams 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: -3F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Berkshire 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 -3F figure is the Berkshire County cold-day number a Adams heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at -3F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 54% of Adams on gas and 8% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Adams house from before 1940 (55% of the 4,363 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Adams. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Adams yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.