Scott County, TN Insulation Payback
Scott County attic insulation, by the numbers
Scott County sits in IECC climate zone 4 (Mixed-Humid) — heating load in winter and cooling load in summer, both worth taking seriously here. For a currently uninsulated attic, DOE and ENERGY STAR recommend building up to R-60. Going from R-2 to the recommended R-60 costs roughly $3,480 installed for a typical attic (about 1,000 sq ft), and pays for itself in about 2.5 years at an estimated $1,370/year saved. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
The breakdown behind the number
Split it out and it's roughly $1,216 a year on the heating side, $154 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Scott County lands in the 44th percentile nationally. Zone 4 alone covers 825 counties in this dataset, and Scott County comes in 443rd by savings. Tennessee averages $1,258/year across the counties tracked here; Scott County comes in 9% higher.
The climate data behind this
NOAA's ONEIDA, TN US station, 5.2 miles from Scott County, supplies the 4,547 HDD and 958 CDD this estimate runs on. That combined heating-and-cooling load ranks Scott County 1906th nationally by total degree days — the 40th percentile. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Scott County sits in moisture regime A (humid), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
The smaller top-up scenario
If Scott 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 $200/year — payback about 11.4 years. Call this borderline rather than a clear win.
Getting it done in Scott County
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 Scott County job, not a quote. Expect at least a $600 minimum charge from most contractors.
Where these figures come from
Scott 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.