Bingham County, ID Insulation Payback
Bingham County attic insulation, by the numbers
Bingham County, Idaho is zone 6 under DOE's climate map (Cold), which means a real winter that drives most of the annual energy bill here. 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 $1,952 a year in heating and cooling — a payback around 1.8 years. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
Where the savings come from
Split it out and it's roughly $1,869 a year on the heating side, $83 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Bingham County lands in the 80th percentile nationally. Zone 6 alone covers 459 counties in this dataset, and Bingham County comes in 425th by savings. Idaho averages $1,995/year across the counties tracked here; Bingham County comes in 2% lower.
The climate data behind this
The heating and cooling degree days behind this estimate — 6,990 HDD and 519 CDD (base 65°F, 1991-2020 normals) — come from BLACKFOOT FIRE DEPT, ID US, the nearest NOAA station with published normals, 3.2 miles from Bingham County's center. That combined heating-and-cooling load ranks Bingham County 655th nationally by total degree days — the 79th percentile. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Bingham County sits in moisture regime B (dry), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
The smaller top-up scenario
Already have a few inches up there? Topping R-11 up to R-49 runs about $2,280 for about $285/year saved — roughly 8 years to break even. Call this borderline rather than a clear win.
Quotes and materials for this job
Real bids depend on how easy the attic is to reach and whether old insulation needs removing first, so treat $3,480 as a starting estimate for a Bingham County job, not a quote. Expect at least a $600 minimum charge from most contractors.
Where these figures come from
Bingham 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.