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Marshall, NC
8 miles west
Center about 670 feet lower than Mars Hill's; Its NOAA station logs about 760 more heating degree days than Mars Hill's
Attic insulation in MarshallAttic Insulation in Mars Hill, NC
Blown-in attic insulation for Mars Hill, NC, in Madison County, plus removal and air sealing.
About Mars Hill and Its Homes
Mars Hill grew up around a Baptist school founded in 1856, now Mars Hill University. When the town was incorporated in 1893, its limits ran twelve hundred yards in every direction from the old college building.
Mars Hill, in Madison County, grew from 2,038 people in 2020 to 2,280 in 2025 (Census Bureau estimates), on 2.1 square miles. No town in Madison County has more people than Mars Hill.
Mars Hill has about 1,050 housing units, 9 percent of Madison County's; 65 percent of the town's households own their home.
Mars Hill at a Glance
- County: Madison County
- Population: 2,280 (2025), 2,038 (2020), up 11.9%
- Land area: 2.1 square miles (1,086 people each)
- Housing units: about 1,050 (±179)
- Median year built: 1982 (±5); Madison County: 1987
- Owner-occupied: 65% (±5); Madison County: 77%
- Detached houses: 72% (±5); Madison County: 72%
- Attached houses: 1% (±1)
- Apartments: 22% (±9)
- Mobile homes: 4% (±4)
- Climate zone: 4 on both maps
- ENERGY STAR target for Mars Hill attics: R-60 from bare, R-49 over 3 to 4 inches (R-value guide)
Census Bureau estimates for Mars Hill, 2020 to 2024 (± margin of error).
Mars Hill Homes and Their Attics
Story-and-a-Half Bungalows Beside the Campus
Private homes and college buildings stood mixed together around the campus into the 1950s, says the Mars Hill College Historic District nomination. Two of its houses show the type. The church pastorium of about 1918 to 1921 is a brick bungalow one and a half stories tall with a front dormer. A frame bungalow of about 1925 has a shed dormer centered on its roof. Upstairs rooms in houses like these sit within the roof framing, and low knee walls close off narrow spaces along the eaves. ENERGY STAR names the spots behind and beneath knee walls as frequent leaks. We seal the open floor cavities there first, then insulate.
Attic Insulation in Mars Hill
About 30 percent of Mars Hill's homes predate 1970; if your joists show above the insulation, ENERGY STAR says to add more insulation.
Built from 1970 to 1989, about 30 percent of Mars Hill homes may hold settled fiberglass; check its depth against the joists.
The Local Climate
Mars Hill's center sits about 2,310 feet above sea level, 16 miles from NOAA's Asheville station, the best match for Mars Hill. The station's 1991 to 2020 normals average about 3,880 heating and 1,090 cooling degree days a year, so at Mars Hill's station, heating needs outweigh cooling.
Readings change over short distances around Mars Hill: NOAA's Marshall station, 7 miles away, averages about 4,630 heating degree days.
Homes by Age: What It Means for the Attic
Some 72 percent of Mars Hill housing units are detached single-family houses.
From 1990 to 2009, about 25 percent of Mars Hill homes were built to codes below ENERGY STAR's target; check their eaves, where ENERGY STAR says insulation is often thinnest.
About 50 percent of Mars Hill's housing units predate 1980; nearly all predate the state's 1978 insulation rule too.
Homes by Year Built
- Before 1940: 7% (±4), about 70 units
- 1940s: 4% (±3), about 45 units
- 1950s: 12% (±6), about 125 units
- 1960s: 8% (±5), about 90 units
- 1970s: 16% (±7), about 170 units
- 1980s: 14% (±7), about 145 units
- 1990s: 17% (±8), about 180 units
- 2000s: 8% (±4), about 90 units
- 2010s: 6% (±4), about 65 units
- 2020 or later: 7% (±3), about 70 units
Air Sealing and Duct Sealing in Mars Hill
In Mars Hill, about 62 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: 62% (±11), about 550 households; Madison County: 49%
- Piped gas: 25% (±9), about 225 households
- Bottled or tank gas: 1% (±1)
- Oil or kerosene: 6% (±4), about 55 households
- Wood: under 11%, about 45 households
Power, Gas and Rebates
Power in and around Mars Hill comes from Duke Energy Progress and French Broad EMC; your bill says which. For gas, Mars Hill is in the Madison County franchise of Enbridge Gas North Carolina, and about 25 percent of the town's homes heat with piped gas. Duke's free House Call fits many Mars Hill homes: about 62 percent heat with electricity.
Rebate to check if Duke Energy Progress serves your Mars Hill home: Smart $aver Insulate and Seal (Duke Energy; Insulation Pros is an approved trade ally). Before a job in Mars Hill, check its current terms; the Madison County page lists every program.
Attic Insulation Removal in Mars Hill
In a Mars Hill attic, only wet, moldy or animal-soiled insulation is vacuumed out (ENERGY STAR's test), once the cause is fixed, and after mice that Mars Hill attic is sanitized and deodorized; dry, clean insulation stays.
Also Serving Near Mars Hill
Nearest to Mars Hill first.
Weaverville, NC
9 miles south
4,790 people, about twice Mars Hill's population
Attic insulation in WeavervilleWoodfin, NC
13 miles south
Median home built 1999 (Mars Hill: 1982); Center about 200 feet lower than Mars Hill's
Attic insulation in WoodfinBurnsville, NC
15 miles northeast
Center about 510 feet higher than Mars Hill's; Its NOAA station logs about 700 more heating degree days than Mars Hill's
Attic insulation in BurnsvilleHot Springs, NC
16 miles west
Center about 980 feet lower than Mars Hill's; 548 people, about a quarter of Mars Hill's population
Attic insulation in Hot Springs
Mars Hill Insulation FAQs
Can I have the attic insulated in a Mars Hill house I rent out?
Yes, as the owner it is your decision. Mars Hill has been a college town since its start, and the commercial district's nomination says much of downtown's trade leaned on the college's students. Whoever lives in the house only needs to let us reach the attic hatch. The work itself happens above the ceiling: sealing the gaps, then blowing in insulation, or vacuuming out old material first if it needs to come out.
Do the historic districts in Mars Hill mean I need approval for attic work?
Not for work inside your house. The town's two National Register districts cover the college campus and the downtown business blocks along Main and Cascade streets. On its own, a National Register listing does not limit what you do to your house with your own money. The state preservation office says so in its guide to the Register. No commission in Madison County appears on the state's 2023 roster, and insulating and sealing an attic is indoor work.
Could the old insulation in a Mars Hill attic be vermiculite?
It could: about 25 percent of Mars Hill's homes predate 1960. If a Mars Hill 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 Mars Hill need a permit?
Mars Hill Town Hall can say whether Madison County Inspections and Zoning, the town itself or another office handles permits in Mars Hill; ask before work starts.
Helpful Guides
- Mountain winters: attic ventilation
Sources
Census Bureau figures for Mars Hill, NOAA normals for the Asheville station (October 2026). Compiled by Insulation Pros. How the town pages are made.
Sources for the Mars Hill notes and questions (read October 20, 2026):
- Mars Hill, in The North Carolina Gazetteer (William S. Powell, 2nd ed., UNC Press 2010), NCpedia
- Mars Hill Commercial Historic District, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- Mars Hill College Historic District, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- Attic Air Sealing Project, ENERGY STAR
- Sealing Air Leaks in the Attic, 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)
Mars Hill, NC
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Insulation Pros is an insulation contractor serving North Carolina, Mars Hill and the rest of Madison County included.
Reach us
Send the square footage of your Mars Hill attic, or call (336) 870-3893.