Ayden, NC
6 miles north
Median home built 1978 (Grifton: 1971); Power from its own town system (Grifton: Duke Energy Progress)
Attic insulation in AydenAttic Insulation in Grifton, NC
Blown-in attic insulation for Grifton, NC, 6 miles from Ayden, plus removal and air sealing.
About Grifton and Its Homes
Grifton spans both banks of Contentnea Creek a few miles above the Neuse River, on the line between Pitt and Lenoir counties. Long a ferry crossing, known in the 1700s as Peter's Ferry and later as Bell's Ferry, it was incorporated in 1883 and took a local merchant's name in 1889.
Grifton, in Pitt County, grew from 2,444 people in 2020 to 2,539 in 2025 (Census Bureau estimates), on 2.68 square miles. That makes Grifton the fifth-largest town in Pitt County.
Grifton has about 1,280 housing units; 38 percent of the town's households own their home.
Grifton at a Glance
- County: Pitt County
- Population: 2,539 (2025), 2,444 (2020), up 3.9%
- Land area: 2.68 square miles (947 people each)
- Housing units: about 1,280 (±258)
- Median year built: 1971 (±5); Pitt County: 1994
- Owner-occupied: 38% (±5); Pitt County: 51%
- Detached houses: 58% (±6); Pitt County: 49%
- Mobile homes: 12% (±5)
- Climate zone: 3 on both maps
- ENERGY STAR target for Grifton attics: R-49 from bare, R-38 over 3 to 4 inches (R-value guide)
Census Bureau estimates for Grifton, 2020 to 2024 (± margin of error).
Attic Insulation in Grifton
About 45 percent of Grifton's homes predate 1970; if your joists show above the insulation, ENERGY STAR says to add more insulation.
Built from 1940 to 1969, before the state's 1978 insulation rule, about 45 percent of Grifton homes often have little insulation.
The Local Climate
Grifton's center sits about 30 feet above sea level, 9 miles from NOAA's Kinston Ag Research station, the best match for Grifton. The station's 1991 to 2020 normals average about 2,500 heating and 2,010 cooling degree days a year, so Grifton attics work in both seasons.
Readings change over short distances around Grifton: NOAA's Kinston 7 SE station, 14 miles away, averages about 3,110 heating degree days.
Homes by Age: What It Means for the Attic
Some 58 percent of Grifton housing units are detached single-family houses, 12 percent mobile homes. With about 1,280 housing units in Grifton, read the figures as rough proportions.
From 1990 to 2009, about 20 percent of Grifton homes were built to codes below ENERGY STAR's target; check their eaves, where ENERGY STAR says insulation is often thinnest.
Homes by Year Built
- Before 1940: 4% (±2), about 55 units
- 1940s: under 1%
- 1950s: 18% (±6), about 230 units
- 1960s: 25% (±11), about 320 units
- 1970s: 23% (±15), about 295 units
- 1980s: 4% (±3), about 45 units
- 1990s: 11% (±5), about 135 units
- 2000s: 10% (±5), about 130 units
- 2010s: 5% (±3), about 60 units
- 2020 or later: under 2%, about 10 units
Air Sealing and Duct Sealing in Grifton
In Grifton, about 86 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: 86% (±11), about 940 households; Pitt County: 80%
- Piped gas: under 5%, about 25 households
- Bottled or tank gas: 11% (±6), about 125 households
Power, Gas and Rebates
Duke Energy Progress supplies Grifton's electricity. For gas, Grifton is in the Pitt County franchise of Piedmont Natural Gas, whose mains may not reach every street in Grifton. Duke's free House Call fits many Grifton homes: about 86 percent heat with electricity. Bottled or tank gas, bought by the delivery, heats 11 percent of homes in Grifton.
Rebate to check in Grifton: Smart $aver Insulate and Seal (Duke Energy; Insulation Pros is an approved trade ally). Before a job in Grifton, check its current terms; the Pitt County page lists every program.
Attic Insulation Removal in Grifton
In a Grifton attic, only wet, moldy or animal-soiled insulation is vacuumed out (ENERGY STAR's test), once the cause is fixed, and after mice that Grifton attic is sanitized and deodorized; dry, clean insulation stays.
Also Serving Near Grifton
Nearest to Grifton first.
Hookerton, NC
9 miles west
Its NOAA station logs about 510 more heating degree days than Grifton's; 419 people, about a sixth of Grifton's population
Attic insulation in HookertonWinterville, NC
11 miles north
Median home built 2001 (Grifton: 1971); Its NOAA station logs about 430 more heating degree days than Grifton's
Attic insulation in WintervilleKinston, NC
11 miles southwest
Median home built 1966 (Grifton: 1971); 19,705 people, about 8 times Grifton's population
Attic insulation in KinstonDover, NC
11 miles south
Median home built 1969 (Grifton: 1971); Its NOAA station logs about 600 more heating degree days than Grifton's
Attic insulation in Dover
Grifton Insulation FAQs
Is any part of Grifton on a historic register?
Not on either side of the county line. We checked the Pitt and Lenoir rows of the state's National Register list, and no property in town appears in them. The state's 2023 roster of preservation commissions gives Greenville one and Kinston one, with none for this town. That leaves the attic free of any historic review. Your own house sets the order of work: wiring and roof first, then sealing, then insulation.
What is the boxed-in space above the kitchen cabinets in my Grifton house?
Most likely a dropped soffit, a framed box that fills the space between the cabinet tops and the ceiling. ENERGY STAR warns that such a box may have an open top inside the attic, hidden under the insulation, so kitchen air rises straight through it. Working from above, we rake the insulation aside, cover the opening with a rigid board, seal its edges with caulk, and spread the insulation back over it.
Could the old insulation in a Grifton attic be vermiculite?
It could: about 25 percent of Grifton's homes predate 1960. If a Grifton 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 Grifton need a permit?
Grifton Town Hall can say whether Pitt County Permitting & Inspections, the town itself or another office handles permits in Grifton; ask before work starts.
Helpful Guides
- Power from Duke Energy Progress: high summer electric bills and home energy audits
- Hot summers at NOAA's Kinston Ag Research station: radiant barriers
Sources
Census Bureau figures for Grifton, NOAA normals for the Kinston Ag Research station, Duke Energy Progress (October 2026). Compiled by Insulation Pros. How the town pages are made.
Sources for the Grifton introduction and questions (read October 20, 2026):
- Grifton, in The North Carolina Gazetteer (William S. Powell, 2nd ed., UNC Press 2010), NCpedia
- History of Grifton: A Brief History of Our Town, Town of Grifton
- 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)
- Sealing Air Leaks in the Attic, ENERGY STAR do-it-yourself guide
- Attic Air Sealing Project, ENERGY STAR
Grifton, NC
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Insulation Pros is an insulation contractor serving North Carolina, Grifton and the rest of Pitt County included.
Reach us
Send the square footage of your Grifton attic, or call (336) 870-3893.