Rusk County, TX Insulation Payback
Rusk County attic insulation, by the numbers
Rusk County, Texas is zone 3 under DOE's climate map (Hot-Humid), which means long, muggy summers and mild winters, where cooling dominates the energy bill. An uninsulated attic there should be built up to R-49. Going from R-2 to the recommended R-49 costs roughly $2,820 installed for a typical attic (about 1,000 sq ft), and pays for itself in about 2.9 years at an estimated $982/year saved. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
The breakdown behind the number
Split it out and it's roughly $588 a year on the heating side, $395 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Rusk County lands in the 16th percentile nationally. Zone 3 alone covers 690 counties in this dataset, and Rusk County comes in 507th by savings. Texas averages $1,035/year across the counties tracked here; Rusk County comes in 5% lower.
Rusk County's actual weather, not a national average
Rusk County's climate figures — 2,215 heating and 2,477 cooling degree days a year — are read from HENDERSON, TX US, 5.5 miles away, NOAA's nearest 1991-2020 normals station. Combined heating and cooling load puts Rusk County in the 17th percentile of this 3,162-county dataset. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Rusk County sits in moisture regime A (humid), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
Already have some insulation?
If Rusk County's attic already has 3-4 inches of old insulation (about R-11) rather than bare joists, the recommended target drops to R-38. That smaller top-up costs around $1,620 and saves an estimated $132/year — payback about 12.2 years. Call this borderline rather than a clear win.
Next steps for a Rusk County attic
Actual quotes will vary by attic access, existing debris, and whether the job needs air sealing first. Treat the $2,820 figure above as a planning number for Rusk County, not a bid - contractors typically charge a $600 minimum regardless of job size.
Where these figures come from
Rusk County's R-49 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-49 is the target here specifically.