Archuleta County, CO Insulation Payback
Archuleta County attic insulation, by the numbers
Archuleta County, Colorado is zone 6 under DOE's climate map (Cold), which means cold enough that heating, not cooling, is what decides the bill. An uninsulated attic there should be built up to R-60. Topping up a typical 1,000-square-foot attic from bare joists (R-2) to R-60 runs an estimated $3,480, and saves about $1,819 a year in heating and cooling — a payback around 1.9 years. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
Where the savings come from
Split it out and it's roughly $1,777 a year on the heating side, $42 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Archuleta County lands in the 73th percentile nationally. Zone 6 alone covers 459 counties in this dataset, and Archuleta County comes in 455th by savings. Colorado averages $2,043/year across the counties tracked here; Archuleta County comes in 11% lower.
Where these numbers come from
Archuleta County's climate figures — 6,647 heating and 262 cooling degree days a year — are read from DULCE, NM US, 18.6 miles away, NOAA's nearest 1991-2020 normals station. Combined heating and cooling load puts Archuleta County in the 69th percentile of this 3,162-county dataset. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Archuleta County sits in moisture regime B (dry), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
The smaller top-up scenario
A shallower starting point changes the math: with R-11 already down, only the gap to R-49 needs filling, at roughly $2,280 for an estimated $265/year saved (~8.6-year payback). Call this borderline rather than a clear win.
Quotes and materials for this job
Get more than one quote before committing. Attic access and any needed air sealing move the price around, and most contractors won't take a job below roughly $600 regardless of size - worth asking upfront given Archuleta County's estimated $1,819/year on the line.
Where these figures come from
Archuleta County's R-60 target and its degree-day figures both come from named federal sources - see the methodology guide for exactly which ones. The guide to what R-value actually means explains why R-60 is the target here specifically.