Turner County, SD Insulation Payback
Turner County attic insulation, by the numbers
Turner County, South Dakota is zone 6 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 $2,010 a year in heating and cooling — a payback around 1.7 years. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
Heating vs. cooling in Turner County
Split it out and it's roughly $1,866 a year on the heating side, $143 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Turner County lands in the 83th percentile nationally. Zone 6 alone covers 459 counties in this dataset, and Turner County comes in 387th by savings. South Dakota averages $2,162/year across the counties tracked here; Turner County comes in 7% lower.
Turner County's actual weather, not a national average
The heating and cooling degree days behind this estimate — 6,980 HDD and 892 CDD (base 65°F, 1991-2020 normals) — come from MENNO, SD US, the nearest NOAA station with published normals, 21.8 miles from Turner County's center. Combined heating and cooling load puts Turner County in the 84th percentile of this 3,162-county dataset. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Turner 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 $293/year saved (~7.8-year payback). Worth doing on the numbers alone.
Getting it done in Turner County
Get more than one quote before committing. Attic access and any needed air sealing move the price around, and most contractors won't take a job below roughly $600 regardless of size - worth asking upfront given Turner County's estimated $2,010/year on the line.
Where these figures come from
Turner 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.