Madison County, IA Insulation Payback
Madison County attic insulation, by the numbers
Madison County sits in IECC climate zone 5 (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 1.8 years at an estimated $1,955/year saved. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
Heating vs. cooling in Madison County
Split it out and it's roughly $1,837 a year on the heating side, $119 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Madison County lands in the 80th percentile nationally. Zone 5 alone covers 745 counties in this dataset, and Madison County comes in 87th by savings. Iowa averages $1,985/year across the counties tracked here; Madison County comes in 2% lower.
Madison County's actual weather, not a national average
NOAA's WINTERSET 1S, IA US station, 1.1 miles from Madison County, supplies the 6,870 HDD and 738 CDD this estimate runs on. That combined heating-and-cooling load ranks Madison County 615th nationally by total degree days — the 81th percentile. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Madison 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 $285/year saved (~8-year payback). Worth doing on the numbers alone.
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 Madison County's estimated $1,955/year on the line.
Where these figures come from
Madison 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.