Cocke County, TN Insulation Payback
Cocke County attic insulation, by the numbers
Cocke County, Tennessee is zone 4 under DOE's climate map (Mixed-Humid), which means a genuine mix of cold winters and humid summers, with neither one dominating 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 $1,209 a year in heating and cooling — a payback around 2.9 years. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
Where the savings come from
Split it out and it's roughly $982 a year on the heating side, $227 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Cocke County lands in the 32th percentile nationally. Zone 4 alone covers 825 counties in this dataset, and Cocke County comes in 738th by savings. Tennessee averages $1,258/year across the counties tracked here; Cocke County comes in 4% lower.
The climate data behind this
Cocke County's climate figures — 3,672 heating and 1,412 cooling degree days a year — are read from NEWPORT 1 NW, TN US, 6.5 miles away, NOAA's nearest 1991-2020 normals station. By total degree days, Cocke County sits at the 28th percentile nationally. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Cocke County sits in moisture regime A (humid), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
Already have some insulation?
If Cocke County's attic already has 3-4 inches of old insulation (about R-11) rather than bare joists, the recommended target drops to R-49. That smaller top-up costs around $2,280 and saves an estimated $176/year — payback about 12.9 years. Call this borderline rather than a clear win.
Next steps for a Cocke County attic
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 Cocke County job, not a quote. Expect at least a $600 minimum charge from most contractors.
Where these figures come from
Cocke 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.