Lee County, NC Insulation Payback
Lee County attic insulation, by the numbers
DOE classifies Lee County as climate zone 4, mixed-humid — heating load in winter and cooling load in summer, both worth taking seriously here. Its recommended attic R-value for bare joists is 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 3.1 years at an estimated $1,118/year saved. Topping up the attic pays for itself here.
Heating vs. cooling in Lee County
Split it out and it's roughly $850 a year on the heating side, $268 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Lee County lands in the 25th percentile nationally. Zone 4 alone covers 825 counties in this dataset, and Lee County comes in 809th by savings. North Carolina averages $1,169/year across the counties tracked here; Lee County comes in 4% lower.
The climate data behind this
NOAA's SANFORD 8 NE, NC US station, 8.1 miles from Lee County, supplies the 3,180 HDD and 1,669 CDD this estimate runs on. That combined heating-and-cooling load ranks Lee County 2489th nationally by total degree days — the 21th percentile. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Lee County sits in moisture regime A (humid), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
If the attic isn't bare
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 $163/year saved (~14-year payback). Call this borderline rather than a clear win.
Getting it done in Lee County
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 Lee County's estimated $1,118/year on the line.
Where these figures come from
Lee 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.