Menominee County, WI Insulation Payback
Menominee County attic insulation, by the numbers
Menominee 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. For an attic around 1,000 square feet, closing the gap from R-2 to R-60 costs around $3,480 and saves an estimated $2,299 a year — payback in roughly 1.5 years. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
The breakdown behind the number
Split it out and it's roughly $2,250 a year on the heating side, $49 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Menominee County lands in the 93th percentile nationally. Zone 6 alone covers 459 counties in this dataset, and Menominee County comes in 98th by savings. Wisconsin averages $2,200/year across the counties tracked here; Menominee County comes in 5% higher.
Menominee County's actual weather, not a national average
NOAA's SURING, WI US station, 14.2 miles from Menominee County, supplies the 8,415 HDD and 302 CDD this estimate runs on. That combined heating-and-cooling load ranks Menominee County 228th nationally by total degree days — the 93th percentile. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Menominee County sits in moisture regime A (humid), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
Already have some insulation?
Already have a few inches up there? Topping R-11 up to R-49 runs about $2,280 for about $335/year saved — roughly 6.8 years to break even. Worth doing on the numbers alone.
Next steps for a Menominee County attic
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 Menominee County job, not a quote. Expect at least a $600 minimum charge from most contractors.
Where these figures come from
Menominee 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.