Dunn County, WI Insulation Payback
Dunn County attic insulation, by the numbers
Dunn County sits in IECC climate zone 6 (Cold) — winters that dominate the energy bill, with cooling a minor factor. 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 1.6 years at an estimated $2,229/year saved. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
Where the savings come from
Split it out and it's roughly $2,149 a year on the heating side, $80 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Dunn County lands in the 91th percentile nationally. Zone 6 alone covers 459 counties in this dataset, and Dunn County comes in 164th by savings. Wisconsin averages $2,200/year across the counties tracked here; Dunn County comes in 1% higher.
Dunn County's actual weather, not a national average
Dunn County's climate figures — 8,036 heating and 498 cooling degree days a year — are read from MENOMONIE, WI US, 5.4 miles away, NOAA's nearest 1991-2020 normals station. Combined heating and cooling load puts Dunn County in the 91th percentile of this 3,162-county dataset. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Dunn County sits in moisture regime A (humid), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
The smaller top-up scenario
If Dunn 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 $325/year — payback about 7 years. 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 Dunn County's estimated $2,229/year on the line.
Where these figures come from
Dunn 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.