Divide County, ND Insulation Payback
Divide County attic insulation, by the numbers
Divide County sits in IECC climate zone 7 (Very Cold) — winters long and harsh enough that heating is essentially the entire equation. For a currently uninsulated attic, DOE and ENERGY STAR recommend building 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 1.4 years at an estimated $2,544/year saved. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
Heating vs. cooling in Divide County
Split it out and it's roughly $2,491 a year on the heating side, $53 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Divide County lands in the 98th percentile nationally. Zone 7 alone covers 120 counties in this dataset, and Divide County comes in 57th by savings. North Dakota averages $2,496/year across the counties tracked here; Divide County comes in 2% higher.
Where these numbers come from
Divide County's climate figures — 9,318 heating and 329 cooling degree days a year — are read from CROSBY, ND US, 11.8 miles away, NOAA's nearest 1991-2020 normals station. That combined heating-and-cooling load ranks Divide County 68th nationally by total degree days — the 98th percentile.
If the attic isn't bare
Already have a few inches up there? Topping R-11 up to R-49 runs about $2,280 for about $371/year saved — roughly 6.1 years to break even. Worth doing on the numbers alone.
Quotes and materials for this job
Actual quotes will vary by attic access, existing debris, and whether the job needs air sealing first. Treat the $3,480 figure above as a planning number for Divide County, not a bid - contractors typically charge a $600 minimum regardless of job size.
Where these figures come from
Divide 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.