Ellsworth County, KS Insulation Payback
Attic insulation payback for Ellsworth County, KS
Ellsworth County, Kansas is zone 4 under DOE's climate map (Mixed-Humid), which means real heating and real cooling seasons both, roughly balanced across the year. An uninsulated attic there should be built up to R-60. For an attic around 1,000 square feet, closing the gap from R-2 to R-60 costs around $3,480 and saves an estimated $1,634 a year — payback in roughly 2.1 years. Hard to find a home improvement with a faster payback than this.
The breakdown behind the number
Of that, about $1,392/year comes from reduced heating and $242/year from reduced cooling load through the ceiling. Ellsworth County beats 62% of the counties in this 3,162-county dataset on estimated insulation savings. Among the 825 counties DOE places in zone 4, Ellsworth County ranks 18th. Against Kansas's own average of $1,594/year, Ellsworth County runs 3% above that.
Ellsworth County's actual weather, not a national average
Ellsworth County's climate figures — 5,207 heating and 1,507 cooling degree days a year — are read from ELLSWORTH, KS US, 2.3 miles away, NOAA's nearest 1991-2020 normals station. By total degree days, Ellsworth County sits at the 66th percentile nationally. DOE also classifies Ellsworth County as moisture regime A (humid) - ask a local contractor whether that changes the vapor-barrier approach for this job.
The smaller top-up scenario
A shallower starting point changes the math: with R-11 already down, only the gap to R-49 needs filling, at roughly $2,280 for an estimated $238/year saved (~9.6-year payback). It is close - the payback only just fits a reasonable timeframe.
Next steps for a Ellsworth 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 Ellsworth County job, not a quote. Expect at least a $600 minimum charge from most contractors.
More on how this was built
Nothing here is a guess: the methodology guide names the DOE climate map and NOAA station data behind every number on this page. See the DIY vs. contractor guide for whether a job this size is realistic to do yourself.