Stutsman County, ND Insulation Payback
Stutsman County attic insulation, by the numbers
Stutsman County, North Dakota is zone 7 under DOE's climate map (Very Cold), which means a climate where the heating season stretches across most of the year. 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 $2,476 a year — payback in roughly 1.4 years. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
Heating vs. cooling in Stutsman County
Split it out and it's roughly $2,409 a year on the heating side, $67 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Stutsman County lands in the 97th percentile nationally. Zone 7 alone covers 120 counties in this dataset, and Stutsman County comes in 74th by savings. North Dakota averages $2,496/year across the counties tracked here; Stutsman County comes in 1% lower.
Where these numbers come from
The heating and cooling degree days behind this estimate — 9,010 HDD and 419 CDD (base 65°F, 1991-2020 normals) — come from JAMESTOWN MUNI AP, ND US, the nearest NOAA station with published normals, 13.9 miles from Stutsman County's center. That combined heating-and-cooling load ranks Stutsman County 92nd nationally by total degree days — the 97th percentile.
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 $361/year saved (~6.3-year payback). Worth doing on the numbers alone.
Getting it done in Stutsman County
Actual quotes will vary by attic access, existing debris, and whether the job needs air sealing first. Treat the $3,480 figure above as a planning number for Stutsman County, not a bid - contractors typically charge a $600 minimum regardless of job size.
Where these figures come from
Stutsman 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.