Box Elder County, UT Insulation Payback
Box Elder County attic insulation, by the numbers
Box Elder County, Utah 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. Going from R-2 to the recommended R-60 costs roughly $3,480 installed for a typical attic (about 1,000 sq ft), and pays for itself in about 1.7 years at an estimated $1,991/year saved. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
Where the savings come from
Split it out and it's roughly $1,899 a year on the heating side, $92 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Box Elder County lands in the 82th percentile nationally. Zone 6 alone covers 459 counties in this dataset, and Box Elder County comes in 401st by savings. Utah averages $1,791/year across the counties tracked here; Box Elder County comes in 11% higher.
The climate data behind this
The heating and cooling degree days behind this estimate — 7,102 HDD and 570 CDD (base 65°F, 1991-2020 normals) — come from ROSETTE, UT US, the nearest NOAA station with published normals, 22.7 miles from Box Elder County's center. Combined heating and cooling load puts Box Elder County in the 82th percentile of this 3,162-county dataset. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Box Elder County sits in moisture regime B (dry), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
Already have some insulation?
Already have a few inches up there? Topping R-11 up to R-49 runs about $2,280 for about $290/year saved — roughly 7.9 years to break even. Worth doing on the numbers alone.
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 Box Elder County's estimated $1,991/year on the line.
Where these figures come from
Box Elder 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.