Lake Santeetlah, NC
5 miles southwest
Center about 160 feet higher than Fontana Dam's; Its NOAA station logs about 390 fewer heating degree days than Fontana Dam's
Attic insulation in Lake SanteetlahAttic Insulation in Fontana Dam, NC
Blown-in attic insulation for Fontana Dam, NC, 5 miles from Lake Santeetlah, plus removal and air sealing.
About Fontana Dam and Its Homes
Fontana Dam was chartered in 2011 on a tract at Fontana Village, about a mile and a quarter southwest of the dam. The village began in Welch Cove as wartime housing for the dam's builders and was later leased out and run as a resort.
Fontana Dam is a town of 10 people on 0.62 square miles of Graham County, by the Census Bureau's 2025 estimate.
Fontana Dam at a Glance
- County: Graham County
- Population: 10 (2025)
- Land area: 0.62 square miles (16 people each)
- Housing units: about 130 (±87)
- Climate zone: 4 on both maps
- ENERGY STAR target for Fontana Dam attics: R-60 from bare, R-49 over 3 to 4 inches (R-value guide)
Census Bureau estimates for Fontana Dam, 2020 to 2024 (± margin of error).
Fontana Dam Homes and Their Attics
Wartime Houses in Welch Cove
To build the dam during World War II, the Tennessee Valley Authority set up a permanent village in Welch Cove, a mile downstream. The 2017 National Register nomination for the dam lists permanent houses, prefabricated houses and trailers there, along with dormitories, a school and a hospital nearby. After the dam was done, the village went to a nonprofit corporation on a thirty-year lease, and it kept and renovated many of the buildings, houses included, for the resort. A house that began as worker housing in the 1940s went up decades before the state's 1978 insulation rule. The nomination does not say how such houses were insulated, so the crew measures and checks what is overhead with you before any work starts.
Attic Insulation in Fontana Dam
If the joists show above the insulation in a Fontana Dam attic, ENERGY STAR says to add more insulation.
The Local Climate
Fontana Dam's center sits about 1,820 feet above sea level, 12 miles from NOAA's Townsend 5 S, TN station, the best match for Fontana Dam. The station's 1991 to 2020 normals average about 4,320 heating and 730 cooling degree days a year, so at Fontana Dam's station, heating needs outweigh cooling. Readings change over short distances around Fontana Dam: NOAA's Andrews station, 16 miles away, averages about 3,930 heating degree days.
Homes by Age: What It Means for the Attic
At about 130 housing units, give or take 87, Fontana Dam is too small for the survey to date its houses. For Fontana Dam, the nearest town with solid figures is Andrews, 16 miles off: about 30 percent of homes built before 1970 and about 46 percent detached houses.
Air Sealing and Duct Sealing in Fontana Dam
In Andrews, the nearest town to Fontana Dam with solid figures, about 80 percent of homes heat with electricity.
Air sealing in a Fontana Dam attic covers wire and pipe holes, wall tops, the attic stair and bath fans.
Power, Gas and Rebates
Duke Energy Carolinas supplies Fontana Dam's electricity. Graham County has no gas franchise, so Fontana Dam homes heat with electricity, propane, oil or wood.
Rebate to check in Fontana Dam: Smart $aver Insulate and Seal (Duke Energy; Insulation Pros is an approved trade ally). Before a job in Fontana Dam, check its current terms; the Graham County page lists every program.
Attic Insulation Removal in Fontana Dam
In a Fontana Dam attic, only wet, moldy or animal-soiled insulation is vacuumed out (ENERGY STAR's test), once the cause is fixed, and after mice that Fontana Dam attic is sanitized and deodorized; dry, clean insulation stays.
Also Serving Near Fontana Dam
Nearest to Fontana Dam first.
Robbinsville, NC
8 miles south
Center about 220 feet higher than Fontana Dam's; 579 people, about 58 times Fontana Dam's population
Attic insulation in RobbinsvilleAndrews, NC
16 miles south
1,799 people, about 180 times Fontana Dam's population
Attic insulation in AndrewsBryson City, NC
21 miles east
1,525 people, about 153 times Fontana Dam's population
Attic insulation in Bryson CityMurphy, NC
26 miles southwest
Power from its own town system (Fontana Dam: Duke Energy Carolinas); Center about 220 feet lower than Fontana Dam's
Attic insulation in Murphy
Fontana Dam Insulation FAQs
Before insulating one of the older Fontana Dam houses, what should be checked?
Three things come first. Look for wiring strung on porcelain knobs and tubes, a pre-1930 method ENERGY STAR warns must not be buried in insulation. Check any flue or chimney through the ceiling, which takes a metal collar, heat-rated caulk and a dam to hold insulation off it. Then feel for damp spots. Wet insulation is a sign of a leaking roof, and the roof gets fixed before any new material goes down.
Is Fontana Village on the National Register like the dam?
The dam is, and the village as such is not. The Fontana Hydroelectric Project was listed in 2017, and its nomination tells the village's story, but no listing names Fontana Dam or Fontana Village as its place. Graham County has no preservation commission on the state's 2023 roster either. That leaves attic decisions with whoever owns the building, which at a resort may be the company rather than the person staying in it.
Does attic insulation in Fontana Dam need a permit?
Fontana Dam Town Hall can say whether Graham County Building Inspections, the town itself or another office handles permits in Fontana Dam; ask before work starts.
Helpful Guides
- Power from Duke Energy Carolinas: high summer electric bills and home energy audits
Sources
Census Bureau figures for Fontana Dam, NOAA normals for the Townsend 5 S, TN station, Duke Energy Carolinas (October 2026). Compiled by Insulation Pros. How the town pages are made.
Sources for the Fontana Dam notes and questions (read October 20, 2026):
- Session Law 2011-110 (Senate Bill 431), An Act to Incorporate the Town of Fontana Dam, North Carolina General Assembly
- Fontana Village and Fontana Lake, in The North Carolina Gazetteer (William S. Powell, 2nd ed., UNC Press 2010), NCpedia
- Fontana Hydroelectric Project, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- Fontana Dam, Encyclopedia of North Carolina, NCpedia (State Library of North Carolina)
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 143-139.2, Enforcement of insulation requirements; certificate for occupancy
- Attic Insulation Project, ENERGY STAR
- Furnace Flues Require Special Sealing Techniques, ENERGY STAR do-it-yourself guide
- NC Listings in 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)
Fontana Dam, NC
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Insulation Pros is an insulation contractor serving North Carolina, Fontana Dam and the rest of Graham County included.
Reach us
Send the square footage of your Fontana Dam attic, or call (336) 870-3893.