Harrison County, WV Insulation Payback
Harrison County attic insulation, by the numbers
Harrison County sits in IECC climate zone 5 (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. 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 $1,558 a year in heating and cooling — a payback around 2.2 years. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
Heating vs. cooling in Harrison County
Split it out and it's roughly $1,415 a year on the heating side, $143 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Harrison County lands in the 57th percentile nationally. Zone 5 alone covers 745 counties in this dataset, and Harrison County comes in 686th by savings. West Virginia averages $1,526/year across the counties tracked here; Harrison County comes in 2% higher.
The climate data behind this
NOAA's CLARKSBURG 1, WV US station, 2 miles from Harrison County, supplies the 5,291 HDD and 892 CDD this estimate runs on. That combined heating-and-cooling load ranks Harrison County 1404th nationally by total degree days — the 56th percentile. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Harrison County sits in moisture regime A (humid), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
If the attic isn't bare
If Harrison 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 $227/year — payback about 10 years. 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 Harrison County's estimated $1,558/year on the line.
Where these figures come from
Harrison 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.