Is your upstairs sweltering even though your thermostat says 74°F? That's one of the clearest signs your attic needs more insulation — and in Northeast Arkansas, a under-insulated attic in late June is basically a 150°F oven sitting right above your living space.
Here are the red flags to watch for. Your second floor stays 5–8°F hotter than the first floor no matter how long the AC runs. Your energy bill spiked compared to last summer, even though you haven't changed your habits. You can feel heat radiating through the ceiling when you put your hand flat against it.
If you pull down your attic hatch and peek in, you want to see at least 13–14 inches of blown insulation or batts. That gets you close to R-38, which is the minimum IRC R402.1 recommends for Climate Zone 3 (that's us — Jonesboro, Trumann, Paragould). Anything under 10 inches and you're almost certainly underperforming.
Older homes in Craighead and Poinsett counties often have the original 3–4 inches of fiberglass batts from the 1970s or 80s — roughly R-11 to R-13. Blowing an additional R-30 of cellulose on top typically costs $0.85–$1.25 per square foot installed and can cut cooling load noticeably within the first billing cycle.
Don't wait until August to figure this out. The longer your AC fights a hot attic, the harder it works and the shorter its lifespan. A quick attic inspection takes us about 20 minutes and costs you nothing.
Reply to this post or send us a DM to schedule your free attic assessment this week.