Wilbarger County, TX Insulation Payback
Wilbarger County attic insulation, by the numbers
Wilbarger County, Texas is zone 3 under DOE's climate map (Hot-Dry), which means desert-dry heat for much of the year, with the attic taking the brunt of it. An uninsulated attic there should be built up to R-49. Topping up a typical 1,000-square-foot attic from bare joists (R-2) to R-49 runs an estimated $2,820, and saves about $1,189 a year in heating and cooling — a payback around 2.4 years. Topping up the attic pays for itself fast here.
Heating vs. cooling in Wilbarger County
Split it out and it's roughly $796 a year on the heating side, $393 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Wilbarger County lands in the 30th percentile nationally. Zone 3 alone covers 690 counties in this dataset, and Wilbarger County comes in 110th by savings. Texas averages $1,035/year across the counties tracked here; Wilbarger County comes in 15% higher.
The climate data behind this
Wilbarger County's climate figures — 2,999 heating and 2,466 cooling degree days a year — are read from VERNON, TX US, 6.6 miles away, NOAA's nearest 1991-2020 normals station. Combined heating and cooling load puts Wilbarger County in the 39th percentile of this 3,162-county dataset. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Wilbarger County sits in moisture regime B (dry), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
If the attic isn't bare
A shallower starting point changes the math: with R-11 already down, only the gap to R-38 needs filling, at roughly $1,620 for an estimated $160/year saved (~10.1-year payback). Call this borderline rather than a clear win.
Next steps for a Wilbarger County attic
Real bids depend on how easy the attic is to reach and whether old insulation needs removing first, so treat $2,820 as a starting estimate for a Wilbarger County job, not a quote. Expect at least a $600 minimum charge from most contractors.
Where these figures come from
Wilbarger County's R-49 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-49 is the target here specifically.