Scotland County, NC Insulation Payback
Scotland County attic insulation, by the numbers
Scotland County, North Carolina is zone 3 under DOE's climate map (Mixed-Humid), which means real heating and real cooling seasons both, roughly balanced across the year. 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 2.7 years at an estimated $1,052/year saved. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
Where the savings come from
Split it out and it's roughly $703 a year on the heating side, $349 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Scotland County lands in the 21th percentile nationally. Zone 3 alone covers 690 counties in this dataset, and Scotland County comes in 354th by savings. North Carolina averages $1,169/year across the counties tracked here; Scotland County comes in 10% lower.
The climate data behind this
Scotland County's climate figures — 2,651 heating and 2,190 cooling degree days a year — are read from LAURINBURG, NC US, 6.2 miles away, NOAA's nearest 1991-2020 normals station. Combined heating and cooling load puts Scotland County in the 21th percentile of this 3,162-county dataset. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Scotland County sits in moisture regime A (humid), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
The smaller top-up scenario
If Scotland 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 $142/year — payback about 11.4 years. Call this borderline rather than a clear win.
Next steps for a Scotland County attic
Real bids depend on how easy the attic is to reach and whether old insulation needs removing first, so treat $2,820 as a starting estimate for a Scotland County job, not a quote. Expect at least a $600 minimum charge from most contractors.
Where these figures come from
Scotland 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.