Lewis County, NY Insulation Payback
Lewis County attic insulation, by the numbers
Lewis County sits in IECC climate zone 6 (Cold) — cold enough that heating, not cooling, is what decides the bill. For a currently uninsulated attic, DOE and ENERGY STAR recommend building 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 1.6 years at an estimated $2,204/year saved. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
Heating vs. cooling in Lewis County
Split it out and it's roughly $2,152 a year on the heating side, $51 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Lewis County lands in the 90th percentile nationally. Zone 6 alone covers 459 counties in this dataset, and Lewis County comes in 182nd by savings. New York averages $1,948/year across the counties tracked here; Lewis County comes in 13% higher.
The climate data behind this
Lewis County's climate figures — 8,050 heating and 320 cooling degree days a year — are read from LOWVILLE, NY US, 2.1 miles away, NOAA's nearest 1991-2020 normals station. Combined heating and cooling load puts Lewis County in the 90th percentile of this 3,162-county dataset. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Lewis 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 $321/year saved (~7.1-year payback). Worth doing on the numbers alone.
Quotes and materials for this job
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 Lewis County job, not a quote. Expect at least a $600 minimum charge from most contractors.
Where these figures come from
Lewis 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.