Bullock County, AL Insulation Payback
Bullock County attic insulation, by the numbers
Bullock County, Alabama is zone 3 under DOE's climate map (Hot-Humid), which means summers that stay hot and humid while winters barely register on the energy bill. An uninsulated attic there should be built up to R-49. Going from R-2 to the recommended R-49 costs roughly $2,820 installed for a typical attic (about 1,000 sq ft), and pays for itself in about 2.9 years at an estimated $958/year saved. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
The breakdown behind the number
Split it out and it's roughly $655 a year on the heating side, $303 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Bullock County lands in the 14th percentile nationally. Zone 3 alone covers 690 counties in this dataset, and Bullock County comes in 557th by savings. Alabama averages $1,001/year across the counties tracked here; Bullock County comes in 4% lower.
The climate data behind this
Bullock County's climate figures — 2,470 heating and 1,900 cooling degree days a year — are read from UNION SPRINGS 9 S, AL US, 6.3 miles away, NOAA's nearest 1991-2020 normals station. By total degree days, Bullock County sits at the 8th percentile nationally. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Bullock County sits in moisture regime A (humid), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
If the attic isn't bare
Already have a few inches up there? Topping R-11 up to R-38 runs about $1,620 for about $129/year saved — roughly 12.6 years to break even. Call this borderline rather than a clear win.
Getting it done in Bullock County
Real bids depend on how easy the attic is to reach and whether old insulation needs removing first, so treat $2,820 as a starting estimate for a Bullock County job, not a quote. Expect at least a $600 minimum charge from most contractors.
Where these figures come from
Bullock County's R-49 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-49 is the target here specifically.