Worcester / Lancaster
Lancaster is about 16 miles from the Census center point for Worcester in a straight line and covers 27.469 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).
Lancaster has 8,606 residents (give or take 19) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2502734165, checked 2026-10-19), about 313 people per square mile.
The quote form takes a ZIP code; for Lancaster that is 01523, 01561 (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).
Lancaster is spread out at 313 people per square mile across 27.469 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.
Of the 2,960 occupied homes in Lancaster, 13% heat with natural gas, 59% with heating oil, 9% with electricity and 16% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2502734165, checked 2026-10-19).
Lancaster has 21 points more oil heat than Worcester County as a whole, where 38% of homes burn oil, and 11 points less electric heat than the county's 20% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US25027, checked 2026-10-19).
Heating oil is the largest single fuel in Lancaster at 59%, ahead of propane at 16%, so the usual job here is an oil boiler or furnace coming out and a cold-climate heat pump going in, with the oil tank removed.
The median Lancaster home was built in 1971 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2502734165, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 6.3 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US2502734165, checked 2026-10-19).
Lancaster has 3,025 housing units, 20% built before 1940 and 55% before 1980, with 27% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2502734165, checked 2026-10-19).
Lancaster has 7 points fewer pre-1940 homes than Worcester County as a whole (27%) and 12 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=050XX00US25027, checked 2026-10-19).
Only 27% of Lancaster homes are new enough to pass the whole-home rebate's weatherization check on age, and 20% date from before 1940, so most of the other 73% show it with a home energy assessment before the heat pump goes in.
82% of Lancaster homes are single-family detached, 7% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 3% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2502734165, checked 2026-10-19).
With 82% detached houses and 7% in small multi-family buildings, a Lancaster quote is usually one or two outdoor units with ducted or ductless heads sized room by room. With 15% of Lancaster homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2502734165, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
Lancaster has 25 points more detached houses than Worcester County overall (57%) and 14 points fewer five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 17% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US25027, checked 2026-10-19).
Only 15% of Lancaster homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2502734165, checked 2026-10-19), so nearly every quote here is the resident talking to the installer directly, and the rebate goes to the person living in the house.
No electric utility is on file for Lancaster on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
If the Lancaster 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 Lancaster is $134,833 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2502734165, 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: -2F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Worcester 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 -2F figure is the Worcester County cold-day number a Lancaster heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at -2F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask what happens to the oil tank, since 59% of the 2,960 occupied Lancaster homes have one and removal is usually a separate line on the quote.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Lancaster home has 6.3 rooms and was built around 1971, 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 Lancaster. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Lancaster yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.