Fountain County, IN Insulation Payback
Fountain County attic insulation, by the numbers
Fountain County, Indiana is zone 5 under DOE's climate map (Cold), which means cold enough that heating, not cooling, is what decides 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 $1,748 a year in heating and cooling — a payback around 2 years. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
The breakdown behind the number
Split it out and it's roughly $1,610 a year on the heating side, $139 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Fountain County lands in the 69th percentile nationally. Zone 5 alone covers 745 counties in this dataset, and Fountain County comes in 392nd by savings. Indiana averages $1,634/year across the counties tracked here; Fountain County comes in 7% higher.
The climate data behind this
NOAA's ATTICA 2E, IN US station, 11.4 miles from Fountain County, supplies the 6,020 HDD and 864 CDD this estimate runs on. Combined heating and cooling load puts Fountain County in the 69th percentile of this 3,162-county dataset. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Fountain County sits in moisture regime A (humid), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
Already have some insulation?
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 $255/year saved (~8.9-year payback). Call this borderline rather than a clear win.
Next steps for a Fountain 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 Fountain County job, not a quote. Expect at least a $600 minimum charge from most contractors.
Where these figures come from
Fountain 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.