Sabana Grande Municipio, PR Insulation Payback
Sabana Grande Municipio attic insulation, by the numbers
Sabana Grande Municipio sits in IECC climate zone 1 (Hot-Humid) — summers that stay hot and humid while winters barely register on the energy bill. For a currently uninsulated attic, DOE and ENERGY STAR recommend building up to R-30. Going from R-2 to the recommended R-30 costs roughly $1,680 installed for a typical attic (about 1,000 sq ft), and pays for itself in about 4.6 years at an estimated $366/year saved. Topping up the attic pays for itself here.
The breakdown behind the number
Split it out and it's roughly $3 a year on the heating side, $363 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Sabana Grande Municipio lands in the 0th percentile nationally. Zone 1 alone covers 81 counties in this dataset, and Sabana Grande Municipio comes in 76th by savings. Puerto Rico averages $660/year across the counties tracked here; Sabana Grande Municipio comes in 45% lower.
Sabana Grande Municipio's actual weather, not a national average
The heating and cooling degree days behind this estimate — 12 HDD and 2,340 CDD (base 65°F, 1991-2020 normals) — come from MARICAO 2 SSW, PR RQ, the nearest NOAA station with published normals, 5.3 miles from Sabana Grande Municipio's center. That combined heating-and-cooling load ranks Sabana Grande Municipio 3157th nationally by total degree days — the 0th percentile. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Sabana Grande Municipio sits in moisture regime A (humid), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
If the attic isn't bare
Already have a few inches up there? Topping R-11 up to R-25 runs about $840 for about $40/year saved — roughly 21 years to break even. This is the weak case for the upgrade, numbers-wise.
Quotes and materials for this job
Get more than one quote before committing. Attic access and any needed air sealing move the price around, and most contractors won't take a job below roughly $600 regardless of size - worth asking upfront given Sabana Grande Municipio's estimated $366/year on the line.
Where these figures come from
Sabana Grande 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.