Walworth County, SD Insulation Payback
Walworth County attic insulation, by the numbers
Walworth County sits in IECC climate zone 6 (Cold) — winters that dominate the energy bill, with cooling a minor factor. For a currently uninsulated attic, DOE and ENERGY STAR recommend building 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 $2,329 a year in heating and cooling — a payback around 1.5 years. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
Where the savings come from
Split it out and it's roughly $2,229 a year on the heating side, $100 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Walworth County lands in the 94th percentile nationally. Zone 6 alone covers 459 counties in this dataset, and Walworth County comes in 79th by savings. South Dakota averages $2,162/year across the counties tracked here; Walworth County comes in 8% higher.
The climate data behind this
NOAA's SELBY, SD US station, 5.7 miles from Walworth County, supplies the 8,337 HDD and 623 CDD this estimate runs on. By total degree days, Walworth County sits at the 95th percentile nationally. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Walworth 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 $340/year saved (~6.7-year payback). Worth doing on the numbers alone.
Quotes and materials for this job
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 Walworth County's estimated $2,329/year on the line.
Where these figures come from
Walworth 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.