Iosco County, MI Insulation Payback
Iosco County attic insulation, by the numbers
Iosco County, Michigan is zone 6 under DOE's climate map (Cold), which means a real winter that drives most of the annual energy bill here. 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 $2,058 a year in heating and cooling — a payback around 1.7 years. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
Heating vs. cooling in Iosco County
Split it out and it's roughly $1,994 a year on the heating side, $65 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Iosco County lands in the 85th percentile nationally. Zone 6 alone covers 459 counties in this dataset, and Iosco County comes in 338th by savings. Michigan averages $2,064/year across the counties tracked here; Iosco County comes in 0% higher.
The climate data behind this
The heating and cooling degree days behind this estimate — 7,456 HDD and 404 CDD (base 65°F, 1991-2020 normals) — come from E TAWAS, MI US, the nearest NOAA station with published normals, 9.4 miles from Iosco County's center. That combined heating-and-cooling load ranks Iosco County 496th nationally by total degree days — the 84th percentile. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Iosco County sits in moisture regime A (humid), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
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 $300/year saved (~7.6-year payback). 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 Iosco County, not a bid - contractors typically charge a $600 minimum regardless of job size.
Where these figures come from
Iosco 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.