The most oil heat on this site
Sixty-one percent of Holden homes heat with oil, the highest share of any town here. Fewer than one in five heat with gas. Most water heaters in town are either electric or fed by the oil boiler.
For a house like that, the replacement question is different. There is no gas line to hook a new heater to, so the choice is another electric tank, a tank the boiler heats, or a heat pump water heater.
$500 from the light department
Holden has its own electric company. For 2026 the Holden Municipal Light Department pays $500 toward a heat pump water heater, up to half its cost, on purchases made during the year. The application is due by January 31, 2027.
The same page mentions a $300 discount on qualifying heat pump water heaters through a regional program. Ask the installer whether the model qualifies. What a heat pump water heater needs.
The housing
About 86 percent of Holden homes are single-family. The median home was built in 1971.
Water
Holden runs its own water system, and several of Worcester's reservoirs lie inside the town. Ask the water department for the hardness figure. What it means for a tank.
Gas
Where there is gas service, Eversource is the company. For a gas smell, leave and call 911, then Eversource at 800-592-2000.