Dallas, NC
5 miles south
Power from its own town system (High Shoals: Duke Energy Carolinas); Its NOAA station logs about 330 fewer heating degree days than High Shoals'
Attic insulation in DallasAttic Insulation in High Shoals, NC
Blown-in attic insulation for High Shoals, NC, 5 miles from Dallas, plus removal and air sealing.
About High Shoals and Its Homes
High Shoals takes its name from a rocky shoal on the South Fork Catawba River, where an ironworks cast cannonballs in the War of 1812. A textile company owned the entire community from the 1890s, it became a town only in 1973, and we found no published study of the houses themselves.
High Shoals, in Gaston County, grew from 594 people in 2020 to 637 in 2025 (Census Bureau estimates), on 2.6 square miles.
High Shoals has about 235 housing units; about 41 percent of the city's households own their home.
High Shoals at a Glance
- County: Gaston County
- Population: 637 (2025), 594 (2020), up 7.2%
- Land area: 2.6 square miles (245 people each)
- Housing units: about 235 (±78)
- Median year built: 1984 (±3); Gaston County: 1982
- Owner-occupied: 41% (±8); Gaston County: 67%
- Detached houses: 72% (±6); Gaston County: 73%
- Mobile homes: under 11%
- Climate zone: 3 on both maps
- ENERGY STAR target for High Shoals attics: R-49 from bare, R-38 over 3 to 4 inches (R-value guide)
Census Bureau estimates for High Shoals, 2020 to 2024 (± margin of error).
Attic Insulation in High Shoals
If the joists show above the insulation in a High Shoals attic, ENERGY STAR says to add more insulation.
The Local Climate
High Shoals' center sits about 770 feet above sea level, 8 miles from NOAA's Lincolnton 4 W station, the best match for High Shoals. The station's 1991 to 2020 normals average about 3,330 heating and 1,470 cooling degree days a year, so at High Shoals' station, heating needs outweigh cooling.
Readings change over short distances around High Shoals: NOAA's Gastonia station, 10 miles away, averages about 3,000 heating degree days.
Homes by Age: What It Means for the Attic
About 72 percent of High Shoals housing units are detached single-family houses. With about 235 housing units in High Shoals, read the figures as rough proportions.
Built before 1940, about 10 percent of High Shoals homes can hide knob-and-tube wiring and vermiculite, jobs for an electrician and an asbestos contractor first. Built from 1940 to 1969, before the state's 1978 insulation rule, about 15 percent of High Shoals homes often have little insulation.
Homes by Year Built
- Before 1940: 12% (±10), about 30 units
- 1940s: under 5%
- 1950s: under 8%
- 1960s: under 20%, about 25 units
- 1970s: under 18%, about 20 units
- 1990s: under 10%, about 10 units
- 2000s: under 21%, about 25 units
- 2010s: 9% (±8), about 20 units
- 2020 or later: under 7%
Air Sealing and Duct Sealing in High Shoals
In High Shoals, about 93 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: 93% (±11), about 175 households; Gaston County: 57%
- Bottled or tank gas: under 17%, about 15 households
Power, Gas and Rebates
Duke Energy Carolinas serves most of High Shoals, Rutherford EMC its edges; your bill says which. For gas, High Shoals is in the Gaston County franchise of Enbridge Gas North Carolina, whose mains may not reach every street in High Shoals. Duke's free House Call fits many High Shoals homes: about 93 percent heat with electricity.
Rebate to check in High Shoals: Smart $aver Insulate and Seal (Duke Energy; Insulation Pros is an approved trade ally). Before a job in High Shoals, check its current terms; the Gaston County page lists every program.
Attic Insulation Removal in High Shoals
In a High Shoals attic, only wet, moldy or animal-soiled insulation is vacuumed out (ENERGY STAR's test), once the cause is fixed, and after mice that High Shoals attic is sanitized and deodorized; dry, clean insulation stays.
Also Serving Near High Shoals
Nearest to High Shoals first.
Lincolnton, NC
6 miles north
12,465 people, about 20 times High Shoals' population
Insulation contractor serving LincolntonStanley, NC
7 miles east
Median home built 1979 (High Shoals: 1984); 4,237 people, about 7 times High Shoals' population
Attic insulation in StanleyRanlo, NC
8 miles southeast
4,848 people, about 8 times High Shoals' population
Attic insulation in RanloBessemer City, NC
9 miles southwest
Median home built 1968 (High Shoals: 1984); 5,834 people, about 9 times High Shoals' population
Attic insulation in Bessemer City
High Shoals Insulation FAQs
Is my High Shoals house listed as historic anywhere?
Not in any state record we found. Look through the Gaston County rows of the state's National Register listings and High Shoals never appears, in town or nearby. Gaston County and Gastonia are the only local preservation boards on the 2023 county roster. So historic rules do not shape attic work here. What shapes it is the age of your own house and what earlier owners left in the attic.
My High Shoals house goes back to the mill company years. What needs a look first?
The wiring, any chimney, and the roof. A house from the decades of company ownership may still have knob-and-tube wiring, used before 1930, which ENERGY STAR warns against burying in insulation, so an electrician deals with it first. A chimney through the ceiling needs its gap closed with flashing and heat-proof caulk, with insulation held back. And insulation that feels damp points to a roof leak, which is repaired before anything new goes in.
Could the old insulation in a High Shoals attic be vermiculite?
It could: about 20 percent of High Shoals' homes predate 1960. If a High Shoals 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 High Shoals need a permit?
High Shoals City Hall can say whether Gaston County Building Inspections, the city itself or another office handles permits in High Shoals; ask before work starts.
Helpful Guides
- Power from Duke Energy Carolinas: high summer electric bills and home energy audits
Sources
Census Bureau figures for High Shoals, NOAA normals for the Lincolnton 4 W station, Duke Energy Carolinas (October 2026). Compiled by Insulation Pros. How the town pages are made.
Sources for the High Shoals introduction and questions (read October 20, 2026):
- High Shoals, in The North Carolina Gazetteer (William S. Powell, 2nd ed., UNC Press 2010), NCpedia
- About Us, City of High Shoals
- 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)
- Attic Insulation Project, ENERGY STAR
- Furnace Flues Require Special Sealing Techniques, ENERGY STAR do-it-yourself guide
High Shoals, NC
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Insulation Pros is an insulation contractor serving North Carolina, High Shoals and the rest of Gaston County included.
Reach us
Send the square footage of your High Shoals attic, or call (336) 870-3893.