Ontario County, NY Insulation Payback
Ontario County attic insulation, by the numbers
Ontario County, New York 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. 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 $1,843 a year — payback in roughly 1.9 years. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
The breakdown behind the number
Split it out and it's roughly $1,741 a year on the heating side, $102 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Ontario County lands in the 75th percentile nationally. Zone 5 alone covers 745 counties in this dataset, and Ontario County comes in 217th by savings. New York averages $1,948/year across the counties tracked here; Ontario County comes in 5% lower.
The climate data behind this
The heating and cooling degree days behind this estimate — 6,513 HDD and 632 CDD (base 65°F, 1991-2020 normals) — come from CANANDAIGUA 3 S, NY US, the nearest NOAA station with published normals, 1.4 miles from Ontario County's center. That combined heating-and-cooling load ranks Ontario County 815th nationally by total degree days — the 74th percentile. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Ontario County sits in moisture regime A (humid), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
Already have some insulation?
If Ontario 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 $269/year — payback about 8.5 years. 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 $3,480 as a starting estimate for a Ontario County job, not a quote. Expect at least a $600 minimum charge from most contractors.
Where these figures come from
Ontario 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.