Claremont, NC
4 miles east
Its NOAA station logs about 250 fewer heating degree days than Conover's; 1,790 people, about a fifth of Conover's population
Attic insulation in ClaremontAttic Insulation in Conover, NC
Blown-in attic insulation for Conover, NC, in Catawba County, plus removal and air sealing.
About Conover and Its Homes
Conover, settled in 1871, grew up around the railroad and its wye just north of Newton, and the city marks 150 years in 2026. Its only houses on the National Register are the four the Bolick family built beside their buggy and school bus works at the south edge of town.
Conover, in Catawba County, grew from 8,445 people in 2020 to 8,938 in 2025 (Census Bureau estimates), on 11.4 square miles. That makes Conover the third-largest town in Catawba County.
Conover has about 3,600 housing units, 5 percent of Catawba County's; about 69 percent of the city's households own their home.
Conover at a Glance
- County: Catawba County
- Population: 8,938 (2025), 8,445 (2020), up 5.8%
- Land area: 11.4 square miles (783 people each)
- Housing units: about 3,600 (±286)
- Median year built: 1991 (±4); Catawba County: 1985
- Owner-occupied: 69% (±8); Catawba County: 72%
- Detached houses: 61% (±7); Catawba County: 68%
- Attached houses: 9% (±6)
- Apartments: 20% (±7)
- Mobile homes: 10% (±6)
- Climate zone: 4 (state code), 3 (2021 map)
- ENERGY STAR target for Conover attics: R-49 from bare, R-38 over 3 to 4 inches (R-value guide)
Census Bureau estimates for Conover, 2020 to 2024 (± margin of error).
Conover Homes and Their Attics
The Bolick Family Houses on First Avenue
The Bolick Historic District, listed in 1990, joins what was left of the Bolick company works with the four houses the family built next to it along First Avenue South. The oldest, from about 1905, is a two-story frame house under a steep gambrel roof with a big gabled dormer. A one-and-a-half-story bungalow and two brick Colonial Revival houses of around the 1930s followed. When upper rooms sit inside a gambrel's steep lower slopes, the attic breaks into skinny pockets behind those walls and a small space near the peak. Every pocket can leak air into the rooms, so each one is reached, sealed and insulated.
Attic Insulation in Conover
About 25 percent of Conover's homes predate 1970; if your joists show above the insulation, ENERGY STAR says to add more insulation.
From 1990 to 2009, about 45 percent of Conover homes were built to codes below ENERGY STAR's target; check their eaves, where ENERGY STAR says insulation is often thinnest.
The Local Climate
Conover's center sits about 1,060 feet above sea level, 10 miles from NOAA's Hickory Airport station, the best match for Conover. The station's 1991 to 2020 normals average about 3,550 heating and 1,400 cooling degree days a year, so at Conover's station, heating needs outweigh cooling.
Readings change over short distances around Conover: NOAA's Catawba 5 SW station, 6 miles away, averages about 3,300 heating degree days.
Homes by Age: What It Means for the Attic
About 61 percent of Conover housing units are detached single-family houses, 10 percent mobile homes.
Built from 1970 to 1989, about 25 percent of Conover homes may hold settled fiberglass; check its depth against the joists.
About 35 percent of Conover's housing units predate 1980; nearly all predate the state's 1978 insulation rule too.
Homes by Year Built
- Before 1940: under 2%, about 30 units
- 1940s: 5% (±3), about 170 units
- 1950s: 6% (±3), about 215 units
- 1960s: 13% (±5), about 460 units
- 1970s: 9% (±4), about 340 units
- 1980s: 15% (±7), about 520 units
- 1990s: 23% (±6), about 830 units
- 2000s: 24% (±8), about 860 units
- 2010s: 4% (±3), about 145 units
- 2020 or later: under 1%, about 15 units
Air Sealing and Duct Sealing in Conover
In Conover, 72 percent of homes heat with electricity; where that heat is forced air, ducts often run through the attic.
Air sealing comes first, as the EPA advises: wire and pipe holes, wall tops and soffits.
How Homes Here Are Heated
- Electricity: 72% (±5), about 2,400 households; Catawba County: 73%
- Piped gas: 22% (±8), about 730 households
- Bottled or tank gas: 4% (±4), about 145 households
Power, Gas and Rebates
Duke Energy Carolinas supplies Conover's electricity. For gas, Conover is in the Catawba County franchise of Piedmont Natural Gas, and about 22 percent of the city's homes heat with piped gas. Duke's free House Call fits many Conover homes: 72 percent heat with electricity.
Rebate to check in Conover: Smart $aver Insulate and Seal (Duke Energy; Insulation Pros is an approved trade ally). Before a job in Conover, check its current terms; the Catawba County page lists every program.
Attic Insulation Removal in Conover
In a Conover attic, only wet, moldy or animal-soiled insulation is vacuumed out (ENERGY STAR's test), once the cause is fixed, and after mice that Conover attic is sanitized and deodorized; dry, clean insulation stays.
Also Serving Near Conover
Nearest to Conover first.
Newton, NC
4 miles south
Median home built 1977 (Conover: 1991); Power from its own town system (Conover: Duke Energy Carolinas)
Attic insulation in NewtonHickory, NC
6 miles west
Median home built 1982 (Conover: 1991); 45,975 people, about 5 times Conover's population
Insulation contractor serving HickoryBrookford, NC
7 miles west
Median home built 1945 (Conover: 1991); 456 people, under a tenth of Conover's population
Attic insulation in BrookfordCatawba, NC
8 miles east
Median home built 1957 (Conover: 1991); Center about 190 feet lower than Conover's
Attic insulation in Catawba
Conover Insulation FAQs
Is my Conover house inside a historic district?
Probably not. The State Historic Preservation Office lists one historic district in Conover, the small Bolick district around the old buggy and bus works. Its 2023 list of local preservation boards shows nothing for Conover either. Even inside that district, a National Register listing places no limits on an owner improving a house with private money. So attic insulation and air sealing here involve no historic review.
Do the recessed lights in a newer Conover home change how the attic is insulated?
Yes, it depends on each fixture. Conover is mostly a newer town, since the Census figures on this page put the bulk of its homes in 1970 or after, and a newer ceiling may have can lights. A can light without an IC rating, meaning approved for contact with insulation, needs a clear gap of 3 inches all around, ENERGY STAR advises. IC-rated cans can be covered. We read the label on each fixture before blowing anything in. Recessed lights are also among the leaks ENERGY STAR tells owners to hunt for overhead, so the gaps around them get sealed.
Does attic insulation in Conover need a permit?
Conover City Hall can say whether Catawba County Building Services, the city itself or another office handles permits in Conover; ask before work starts.
Helpful Guides
- Power from Duke Energy Carolinas: high summer electric bills and home energy audits
Sources
Census Bureau figures for Conover, NOAA normals for the Hickory Airport station, Duke Energy Carolinas (October 2026). Compiled by Insulation Pros. How the town pages are made.
Sources for the Conover notes and questions (read October 20, 2026):
- Conover, in The North Carolina Gazetteer (William S. Powell, 2nd ed., UNC Press 2010), NCpedia
- A Glimpse into Conover's Past, City of Conover news, September 16, 2026
- Bolick Historic District, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- NC Listings in the National Register of Historic Places, NC State Historic Preservation Office
- Attic Air Sealing Project, ENERGY STAR
- Historic Preservation Commission Staff in North Carolina, listed by county, as of 2/20/2023 (NC HPO)
- What Is the National Register of Historic Places?, NC State Historic Preservation Office
- Year Structure Built (table B25034), Conover city, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, U.S. Census Bureau via Census Reporter
- Attic Insulation Project, ENERGY STAR
Conover, NC
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Insulation Pros is an insulation contractor serving North Carolina, Conover and the rest of Catawba County included.
Reach us
Send the square footage of your Conover attic, or call (336) 870-3893.