Tucker County, WV Insulation Payback
Tucker County attic insulation, by the numbers
Tucker County, West Virginia is zone 5 under DOE's climate map (Cold), which means winters that dominate the energy bill, with cooling a minor factor. 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 $1,545 a year in heating and cooling — a payback around 2.3 years. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
The breakdown behind the number
Split it out and it's roughly $1,419 a year on the heating side, $126 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Tucker County lands in the 56th percentile nationally. Zone 5 alone covers 745 counties in this dataset, and Tucker County comes in 697th by savings. West Virginia averages $1,526/year across the counties tracked here; Tucker County comes in 1% higher.
The climate data behind this
The heating and cooling degree days behind this estimate — 5,308 HDD and 782 CDD (base 65°F, 1991-2020 normals) — come from PARSONS 3 SE, WV US, the nearest NOAA station with published normals, 4.7 miles from Tucker County's center. By total degree days, Tucker County sits at the 54th percentile nationally. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Tucker County sits in moisture regime A (humid), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
Already have some insulation?
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 $225/year saved (~10.1-year payback). Call this borderline rather than a clear win.
Next steps for a Tucker County attic
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 Tucker County job, not a quote. Expect at least a $600 minimum charge from most contractors.
Where these figures come from
Tucker 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.