Worcester / Palmer
Palmer has 12,381 residents (give or take 35) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2501352144, checked 2026-10-19), about 392 people per square mile.
Palmer is about 26 miles from the Census center point for Worcester in a straight line and covers 31.576 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 Palmer that is 01009, 01069, 01079, 01080 (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).
Palmer is spread out at 392 people per square mile across 31.576 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 5,496 occupied homes in Palmer, 6% heat with natural gas, 60% with heating oil, 19% with electricity and 9% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2501352144, checked 2026-10-19).
Heating oil is the largest single fuel in Palmer at 60%, ahead of electricity at 19%, 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.
Palmer has 38 points more oil heat than Hampden County as a whole, where 22% of homes burn oil, and 2 points less electric heat than the county's 21% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US25013, checked 2026-10-19).
Palmer has 5,907 housing units, 25% built before 1940 and 72% before 1980, with 5% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2501352144, checked 2026-10-19).
Palmer has 3 points fewer pre-1940 homes than Hampden County as a whole (28%) and 3 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 8% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US25013, checked 2026-10-19).
The median Palmer home was built in 1962 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2501352144, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.7 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US2501352144, checked 2026-10-19).
63% of Palmer homes are single-family detached, 17% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 12% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2501352144, checked 2026-10-19).
29% of Palmer homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2501352144, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 63% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Palmer has 7 points more detached houses than Hampden County overall (56%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US25013, checked 2026-10-19).
Only 5% of Palmer homes are new enough to pass the whole-home rebate's weatherization check on age, and 25% date from before 1940, so most of the other 95% show it with a home energy assessment before the heat pump goes in.
No electric utility is on file for Palmer on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
If the Palmer 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 Palmer is $78,480 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2501352144, 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: -3F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Hampden 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 Hampden County cold-day number a Palmer 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 what happens to the oil tank, since 60% of the 5,496 occupied Palmer homes have one and removal is usually a separate line on the quote.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Palmer home has 5.7 rooms and was built around 1962, 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 Palmer. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Palmer yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.