Tooele County, UT Insulation Payback
Tooele County attic insulation, by the numbers
Tooele County, Utah 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 $1,755 a year — payback in roughly 2 years. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
The breakdown behind the number
Split it out and it's roughly $1,580 a year on the heating side, $175 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Tooele County lands in the 69th percentile nationally. Zone 5 alone covers 745 counties in this dataset, and Tooele County comes in 378th by savings. Utah averages $1,791/year across the counties tracked here; Tooele County comes in 2% lower.
Where these numbers come from
Tooele County's climate figures — 5,911 heating and 1,087 cooling degree days a year — are read from DUGWAY, UT US, 22.3 miles away, NOAA's nearest 1991-2020 normals station. Combined heating and cooling load puts Tooele County in the 71th percentile of this 3,162-county dataset. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Tooele County sits in moisture regime B (dry), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
Already have some insulation?
Already have a few inches up there? Topping R-11 up to R-49 runs about $2,280 for about $256/year saved — roughly 8.9 years to break even. 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. Treat the $3,480 figure above as a planning number for Tooele County, not a bid - contractors typically charge a $600 minimum regardless of job size.
Where these figures come from
Tooele 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.