Lincoln County, KS Insulation Payback
Lincoln County attic insulation, by the numbers
DOE classifies Lincoln 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 2.1 years at an estimated $1,696/year saved. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
Heating vs. cooling in Lincoln County
Split it out and it's roughly $1,470 a year on the heating side, $226 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Lincoln County lands in the 66th percentile nationally. Zone 4 alone covers 825 counties in this dataset, and Lincoln County comes in 5th by savings. Kansas averages $1,594/year across the counties tracked here; Lincoln County comes in 6% higher.
The climate data behind this
Lincoln County's climate figures — 5,498 heating and 1,407 cooling degree days a year — are read from LINCOLN 1 SE, KS US, 4.7 miles away, NOAA's nearest 1991-2020 normals station. That combined heating-and-cooling load ranks Lincoln County 973rd nationally by total degree days — the 69th percentile. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Lincoln County sits in moisture regime A (humid), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
If the attic isn't bare
Already have a few inches up there? Topping R-11 up to R-49 runs about $2,280 for about $247/year saved — roughly 9.2 years to break even. Call this borderline rather than a clear win.
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 Lincoln County, not a bid - contractors typically charge a $600 minimum regardless of job size.
Where these figures come from
Lincoln 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.