Crane County, TX Insulation Payback
Crane County attic insulation, by the numbers
Crane County, Texas is zone 3 under DOE's climate map (Hot-Dry), which means scorching, dry summers where heat radiating straight through the roof does most of the damage. An uninsulated attic there should be built up to R-49. For an attic around 1,000 square feet, closing the gap from R-2 to R-49 costs around $2,820 and saves an estimated $1,036 a year — payback in roughly 2.7 years. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
Where the savings come from
Split it out and it's roughly $599 a year on the heating side, $437 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Crane County lands in the 19th percentile nationally. Zone 3 alone covers 690 counties in this dataset, and Crane County comes in 398th by savings. Texas averages $1,035/year across the counties tracked here; Crane County comes in 0% higher.
Where these numbers come from
Crane County's climate figures — 2,256 heating and 2,745 cooling degree days a year — are read from CRANE, TX US, 8.3 miles away, NOAA's nearest 1991-2020 normals station. Combined heating and cooling load puts Crane County in the 26th percentile of this 3,162-county dataset. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Crane 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-38 needs filling, at roughly $1,620 for an estimated $140/year saved (~11.6-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 Crane County's estimated $1,036/year on the line.
Where these figures come from
Crane 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.