Sherman County, NE Insulation Payback
Sherman County attic insulation, by the numbers
Sherman County, Nebraska is zone 5 under DOE's climate map (Cold), which means a real winter that drives most of the annual energy bill here. An uninsulated attic there should be built up to R-60. For an attic around 1,000 square feet, closing the gap from R-2 to R-60 costs around $3,480 and saves an estimated $1,848 a year — payback in roughly 1.9 years.
Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
The breakdown behind the number
Split it out and it's roughly $1,694 a year on the heating side, $154 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Sherman County lands in the 75th percentile nationally. Zone 5 alone covers 754 counties in this dataset, and Sherman County comes in 209th by savings. Nebraska averages $1,872/year across the counties tracked here; Sherman County comes in 1% lower.
Sherman County's actual weather, not a national average
The heating and cooling degree days behind this estimate — 6,336 HDD and 959 CDD (base 65°F, 1991-2020 normals) — come from Loup City, NE US, the nearest NOAA station with published normals, 4.2 miles from Sherman County's center. That combined heating-and-cooling load ranks Sherman County 745th nationally by total degree days — the 77th percentile. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Sherman County sits in moisture regime A (humid), 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 $270/year saved (~8.5-year payback). Call this borderline rather than a clear win.
Quotes and materials for this job
Actual quotes will vary by attic access, existing debris, and whether the job needs air sealing first, so treat the $3,480 figure above as a planning number for Sherman County, not a bid. Worth getting quotes from at least two local contractors before committing - most charge a $600 minimum regardless of job size.
Where these figures come from
Sherman 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.