Bakersville, NC
10 miles northeast
Center about 340 feet lower than Burnsville's; Its NOAA station logs about 470 more heating degree days than Burnsville's
Attic insulation in BakersvilleAttic Insulation in Burnsville, NC
Blown-in attic insulation for Burnsville, NC, in Yancey County, plus removal and air sealing.
About Burnsville and Its Homes
Burnsville has been the Yancey County seat since the county was formed in 1833, with its square laid out on high ground between the Cane and South Toe rivers. Its older houses run from a frame house of about 1845 to Craftsman bungalows of the early 1900s.
Burnsville, in Yancey County, grew from 1,612 people in 2020 to 1,655 in 2025 (Census Bureau estimates), on 1.6 square miles.
Burnsville has about 1,250 housing units, 11 percent of Yancey County's; 49 percent of the town's households own their home.
Burnsville at a Glance
- County: Yancey County
- Population: 1,655 (2025), 1,612 (2020), up 2.7%
- Land area: 1.6 square miles (1,034 people each)
- Housing units: about 1,250 (±238)
- Owner-occupied: 49% (±6); Yancey County: 79%
- Detached houses: 57% (±7); Yancey County: 74%
- Attached houses: 2% (±1)
- Apartments: 36% (±9)
- Mobile homes: 6% (±4)
- Climate zone: 5 on both maps
- ENERGY STAR target for Burnsville attics: R-60 from bare, R-49 over 3 to 4 inches (R-value guide)
Census Bureau estimates for Burnsville, 2020 to 2024 (± margin of error).
Burnsville Homes and Their Attics
Craftsman Bungalows Near the Square
The Chase-Coletta House, a story-and-a-half Craftsman bungalow finished in 1915 beside the Nu-Wray Inn, is on the National Register. Its nomination notes many plainer bungalows and Craftsman houses across Burnsville, and the 1981 county survey found frame and brick bungalows in town from the 1920s. In that house the bedrooms sit under the gable dormers. Rooms set into a roof this way are boxed in by low side walls, and behind them lie thin triangles of attic. ENERGY STAR lists the cavities behind those knee walls, and the floor beneath them, as frequent leak points. In a bungalow like this we close those leaks and fill the hidden triangles, not just the open space above the bedrooms.
Two-Story Houses With Rear Ells and Kitchen Wings
The John Wesley McElroy House, built about 1845 one block west of the square, is a two-story frame house one room deep. Behind it runs an original two-story ell, and beyond that a one-story kitchen wing, each under its own gable roof. The 1981 county survey describes the same plan on Yancey farmhouses of the 1870s to the 1920s, with the kitchen ell often added later. Built in pieces like this, a house may have three attics where you expect one. We find a way into every one of them, check its depth, and spread the insulation level so no hollow is left behind. The McElroy chimneys stand outside the gable walls, so they never cross its attic floor.
Attic Insulation in Burnsville
About 45 percent of Burnsville's homes predate 1970; if your joists show above the insulation, ENERGY STAR says to add more insulation.
Built from 1970 to 1989, 37 percent of Burnsville homes may hold settled fiberglass; check its depth against the joists.
Mountain Climate
Burnsville's center sits about 2,820 feet above sea level, 2 miles from NOAA's Burnsville Ag station, the best match for Burnsville. The station's 1991 to 2020 normals average about 4,580 heating and 640 cooling degree days a year, so Burnsville attics work hardest in winter.
Readings change over short distances around Burnsville: NOAA's Celo 2 S station, 9 miles away, averages about 5,050 heating degree days.
Homes by Age: What It Means for the Attic
About 57 percent of Burnsville housing units are detached single-family houses.
Built from 1940 to 1969, about 30 percent of Burnsville homes often have little insulation.
About 55 percent of Burnsville's housing units predate 1980; nearly all predate the state's 1978 insulation rule too. About 36 percent of Burnsville units sit in buildings of two or more homes, where the attic is often shared.
Homes by Year Built
- Before 1940: 16% (±8), about 200 units
- 1940s: 10% (±4), about 120 units
- 1950s: 9% (±4), about 110 units
- 1960s: 11% (±5), about 130 units
- 1970s: 10% (±3), about 120 units
- 1980s: 27% (±6), about 340 units
- 1990s: 10% (±6), about 130 units
- 2000s: under 14%, about 85 units
- 2010s: 1% (±1), about 15 units
- 2020 or later: under 1%
Air Sealing and Duct Sealing in Burnsville
In Spruce Pine, the nearest town to Burnsville with solid figures, about 56 percent of homes heat with electricity.
Air sealing comes first, as the EPA advises: wire and pipe holes, wall tops and soffits.
How Homes Here Are Heated
- Electricity: 54% (±14), about 530 households; Yancey County: 37%
- Piped gas: 13% (±5), about 130 households
- Bottled or tank gas: 4% (±3), about 45 households
- Oil or kerosene: 27% (±8), about 270 households
Power, Gas and Rebates
Power in and around Burnsville comes from Duke Energy Progress and French Broad EMC; your bill says which. For gas, Burnsville is in the Yancey County franchise of Piedmont Natural Gas, and 13 percent of the town's homes heat with piped gas. Oil or kerosene, bought by the delivery, heats about 27 percent of homes in Burnsville.
Rebate to check if Duke Energy Progress serves your Burnsville home: Smart $aver Insulate and Seal (Duke Energy; Insulation Pros is an approved trade ally). Before a job in Burnsville, check its current terms; the Yancey County page lists every program.
Attic Insulation Removal in Burnsville
In a Burnsville attic, only wet, moldy or animal-soiled insulation is vacuumed out (ENERGY STAR's test), once the cause is fixed, and after mice that Burnsville attic is sanitized and deodorized; dry, clean insulation stays.
Also Serving Near Burnsville
Nearest to Burnsville first.
Spruce Pine, NC
13 miles east
Center about 270 feet lower than Burnsville's
Attic insulation in Spruce PineMars Hill, NC
15 miles southwest
Center about 510 feet lower than Burnsville's; Its NOAA station logs about 700 fewer heating degree days than Burnsville's
Attic insulation in Mars HillMontreat, NC
19 miles south
Center about 220 feet lower than Burnsville's; Its NOAA station logs about 580 fewer heating degree days than Burnsville's
Attic insulation in MontreatWeaverville, NC
21 miles southwest
Center about 650 feet lower than Burnsville's; 4,790 people, about 3 times Burnsville's population
Attic insulation in Weaverville
Burnsville Insulation FAQs
Do historic rules limit attic work on a Burnsville house near the square?
Not by themselves. Several Burnsville places are on the National Register, among them the 1908 courthouse, the Nu-Wray Inn, two houses and the Yancey Collegiate Institute district. Being on the Register, the state's preservation office explains, ties no owner's hands when the work is privately paid for. The office's 2023 list names no local preservation commission in Yancey County, and the town's boards include none. Where a local district does exist, state law limits its review to outside changes, such as new roof vents, not inside work like insulating.
Could Helene have left wet insulation in my Burnsville attic?
Yes, if a tree or the wind opened the roof. In September 2024 the National Weather Service reported widespread wind damage and downed trees across Yancey County on top of the flooding. Rain coming through a damaged roof soaks insulation from the top down, so it can look flattened or stained, and a ceiling spot may show below. ENERGY STAR says damp attic insulation points to a roof leak that must be corrected first. With the roof mended, we clear every wet patch from the ceiling joists and refill those bays to match the depth around them.
Could the old insulation in a Burnsville attic be vermiculite?
It could: about 35 percent of Burnsville's homes predate 1960. If a Burnsville attic holds a pebble-like gray-brown or silver-gold fill, leave it undisturbed: the EPA says vermiculite may contain asbestos.
Does attic insulation in Burnsville need a permit?
Burnsville Town Hall can say whether Yancey County Building Inspections, the town itself or another office handles permits in Burnsville; ask before work starts.
Helpful Guides
- Mountain winters: attic ventilation and attic stairs and hatches
Sources
Census Bureau figures for Burnsville, NOAA normals for the Burnsville Ag station (October 2026). Compiled by Insulation Pros. How the town pages are made.
Sources for the Burnsville notes and questions (read October 20, 2026):
- Burnsville, in The North Carolina Gazetteer (William S. Powell, 2nd ed., UNC Press 2010), NCpedia
- History, Town of Burnsville
- Chase-Coletta House, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- John Wesley McElroy House, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- Historic and Architectural Resources of Yancey County, North Carolina (Mitzi Shook, 1981; listed by the NC HPO as the Yancey County Survey)
- Attic Air Sealing Project, ENERGY STAR
- Building Construction Problem Areas, weatherization training text, Iowa Department of Health and Human Services
- Adding Attic Insulation, ENERGY STAR do-it-yourself guide
- NC Listings in the National Register of Historic Places, NC State Historic Preservation Office
- What Is the National Register of Historic Places?, NC State Historic Preservation Office
- Historic Preservation Commission Staff in North Carolina, listed by county, as of 2/20/2023 (NC HPO)
- Boards and Commissions, Town of Burnsville
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 160D-947, Certificate of appropriateness required
- Western Carolinas and Northeast Georgia Impacts Associated with Hurricane Helene, National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg
- Tropical Cyclone Helene, September 26-27, 2024, event summary, National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg
- Attic Insulation Project, ENERGY STAR
Burnsville, NC
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Insulation Pros is an insulation contractor serving North Carolina, Burnsville and the rest of Yancey County included.
Reach us
Send the square footage of your Burnsville attic, or call (336) 870-3893.