Kent County, RI Insulation Payback
Kent County attic insulation, by the numbers
Kent County, Rhode Island 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. 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 2 years at an estimated $1,721/year saved. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
Heating vs. cooling in Kent County
Split it out and it's roughly $1,601 a year on the heating side, $120 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Kent County lands in the 67th percentile nationally. Zone 5 alone covers 745 counties in this dataset, and Kent County comes in 445th by savings. Rhode Island averages $1,664/year across the counties tracked here; Kent County comes in 3% higher.
The climate data behind this
Kent County's climate figures — 5,987 heating and 750 cooling degree days a year — are read from COVENTRY 2, RI US, 1.3 miles away, NOAA's nearest 1991-2020 normals station. By total degree days, Kent County sits at the 67th percentile nationally. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Kent County sits in moisture regime A (humid), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
If the attic isn't bare
If Kent 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 $251/year — payback about 9.1 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 Kent County's estimated $1,721/year on the line.
Where these figures come from
Kent 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.