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 3166th 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 quotes from at least two local contractors 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 checking 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.