Sevier County, UT Insulation Payback
Sevier County attic insulation, by the numbers
Sevier County, Utah is zone 5 under DOE's climate map (Cold), which means cold enough that heating, not cooling, is what decides the bill. An uninsulated attic there should be built up to R-60. Topping up a typical 1,000-square-foot attic from bare joists (R-2) to R-60 runs an estimated $3,480, and saves about $1,707 a year in heating and cooling — a payback around 2 years. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
Heating vs. cooling in Sevier County
Split it out and it's roughly $1,624 a year on the heating side, $83 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Sevier County lands in the 66th percentile nationally. Zone 5 alone covers 745 counties in this dataset, and Sevier County comes in 479th by savings. Utah averages $1,791/year across the counties tracked here; Sevier County comes in 5% lower.
The climate data behind this
NOAA's RICHFIELD RADIO KSVC, UT US station, 14.4 miles from Sevier County, supplies the 6,072 HDD and 519 CDD this estimate runs on. That combined heating-and-cooling load ranks Sevier County 1151st nationally by total degree days — the 64th percentile. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Sevier County sits in moisture regime B (dry), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
The smaller top-up scenario
A shallower starting point changes the math: with R-11 already down, only the gap to R-49 needs filling, at roughly $2,280 for an estimated $249/year saved (~9.2-year payback). Call this borderline rather than a clear win.
Quotes and materials for this job
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 Sevier County job, not a quote. Expect at least a $600 minimum charge from most contractors.
Where these figures come from
Sevier 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.