Manatí Municipio, PR Insulation Payback
Manatí Municipio attic insulation, by the numbers
Manatí Municipio, Puerto Rico is zone 1 under DOE's climate map (Hot-Humid), which means humid heat for much of the year, with cooling running far more than heating ever does. An uninsulated attic there should be built up to R-30. For an attic around 1,000 square feet, closing the gap from R-2 to R-30 costs around $1,680 and saves an estimated $672 a year — payback in roughly 2.5 years. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
The breakdown behind the number
Split it out and it's roughly $0 a year on the heating side, $672 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Manatí Municipio lands in the 1th percentile nationally. Zone 1 alone covers 81 counties in this dataset, and Manatí Municipio comes in 55th by savings. Puerto Rico averages $660/year across the counties tracked here; Manatí Municipio comes in 2% higher.
The climate data behind this
Manatí Municipio's climate figures — 0 heating and 4,335 cooling degree days a year — are read from MANATI 2 E, PR RQ, 2 miles away, NOAA's nearest 1991-2020 normals station. Combined heating and cooling load puts Manatí Municipio in the 7th percentile of this 3,162-county dataset. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Manatí Municipio 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-25 needs filling, at roughly $840 for an estimated $73/year saved (~11.5-year payback). Call this borderline rather than a clear win.
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 $1,680 as a starting estimate for a Manatí Municipio job, not a quote. Expect at least a $600 minimum charge from most contractors.
Where these figures come from
Manatí Municipio's R-30 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-30 is the target here specifically.