Medina County, OH Insulation Payback
Medina County attic insulation, by the numbers
Medina County, Ohio is zone 5 under DOE's climate map (Cold), which means cold enough that heating, not cooling, is what decides the bill. An uninsulated attic there should be built up to R-60. Topping up a typical 1,000-square-foot attic from bare joists (R-2) to R-60 runs an estimated $3,480, and saves about $1,838 a year in heating and cooling — a payback around 1.9 years. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
The breakdown behind the number
Split it out and it's roughly $1,745 a year on the heating side, $93 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Medina County lands in the 75th percentile nationally. Zone 5 alone covers 745 counties in this dataset, and Medina County comes in 226th by savings. Ohio averages $1,669/year across the counties tracked here; Medina County comes in 10% higher.
Where these numbers come from
Medina County's climate figures — 6,526 heating and 582 cooling degree days a year — are read from CHIPPEWA LAKE, OH US, 4.8 miles away, NOAA's nearest 1991-2020 normals station. Combined heating and cooling load puts Medina County in the 73th percentile of this 3,162-county dataset. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Medina County sits in moisture regime A (humid), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
If the attic isn't bare
If Medina County's attic already has 3-4 inches of old insulation (about R-11) rather than bare joists, the recommended target drops to R-49. That smaller top-up costs around $2,280 and saves an estimated $268/year — payback about 8.5 years. 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 Medina County, not a bid - contractors typically charge a $600 minimum regardless of job size.
Where these figures come from
Medina 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.