Norwood, NC
6 miles west
Power from Duke Energy (Mount Gilead: Duke Energy Progress); 2,568 people, about twice Mount Gilead's population
Attic insulation in NorwoodAttic Insulation in Mount Gilead, NC
Blown-in attic insulation for Mount Gilead, NC, 6 miles from Norwood, plus removal and air sealing.
About Mount Gilead and Its Homes
Mount Gilead started with a Methodist log church in the 1790s and grew up around a crossroads on the Fayetteville plank road. A survey of 1868 laid out store lots on Main and Allenton streets with roomier house lots around them, and the town was incorporated in 1898, soon after a rail spur arrived.
Mount Gilead, in Montgomery County, grew from 1,173 people in 2020 to 1,187 in 2025 (Census Bureau estimates), on 3.49 square miles. That makes Mount Gilead the third-largest town in Montgomery County.
Mount Gilead has about 690 housing units, 5 percent of Montgomery County's.
Mount Gilead at a Glance
- County: Montgomery County
- Population: 1,187 (2025), 1,173 (2020), up 1.2%
- Land area: 3.49 square miles (340 people each)
- Housing units: about 690 (±126)
- Detached houses: 76% (±11); Montgomery County: 65%
- Apartments: 16% (±10)
- Mobile homes: 9% (±6)
- Climate zone: 3 on both maps
- ENERGY STAR target for Mount Gilead attics: R-49 from bare, R-38 over 3 to 4 inches (R-value guide)
Census Bureau estimates for Mount Gilead, 2020 to 2024 (± margin of error).
Mount Gilead Homes and Their Attics
New Siding Outside, Old Insulation Above
The 2023 survey of Montgomery County found that owners across the county have kept up their older houses, in town and out on the back roads. The usual changes were vinyl siding, replacement windows and new doors. Work like that stops at the walls. The attic over a freshly sided house may still hold whatever was put there generations ago. One thing to look for up there is insulation stained dark in patches. ENERGY STAR reads those marks as air from the rooms below filtering through, so we seal the opening underneath and the old insulation can usually stay.
Attic Insulation in Mount Gilead
About 50 percent of Mount Gilead's homes predate 1970; if your joists show above the insulation, ENERGY STAR says to add more insulation.
The Local Climate
Mount Gilead's center sits about 400 feet above sea level, 18 miles from NOAA's Wadesboro station, the best match for Mount Gilead. The station's 1991 to 2020 normals average about 3,000 heating and 1,840 cooling degree days a year, so at Mount Gilead's station, heating needs outweigh cooling.
Readings change over short distances around Mount Gilead: NOAA's Albemarle station, 17 miles away, averages about 3,280 heating degree days.
Homes by Age: What It Means for the Attic
About 76 percent of Mount Gilead housing units are detached single-family houses. With about 690 housing units in Mount Gilead, read the figures as rough proportions.
Built before 1940, about 25 percent of Mount Gilead 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 30 percent of Mount Gilead homes often have little insulation.
Homes by Year Built
- Before 1940: 23% (±8), about 155 units
- 1940s: 5% (±4), about 35 units
- 1950s: 14% (±8), about 95 units
- 1960s: 9% (±5), about 60 units
- 1970s: 16% (±13), about 110 units
- 1980s: 15% (±9), about 105 units
- 1990s: 4% (±4), about 30 units
- 2000s: 5% (±5), about 35 units
- 2010s: 8% (±7), about 60 units
- 2020 or later: under 2%
Air Sealing and Duct Sealing in Mount Gilead
In Norwood, the nearest town to Mount Gilead with solid figures, about 75 percent of homes heat with electricity.
Air sealing comes first, as the EPA advises: wire and pipe holes, wall tops and soffits.
How Homes Here Are Heated
- Electricity: 66% (±13), about 340 households; Montgomery County: 77%
- Piped gas: 19% (±9), about 100 households
- Bottled or tank gas: under 5%, about 10 households
- Oil or kerosene: 7% (±7), about 40 households
- Wood: under 11%, about 30 households
Power, Gas and Rebates
Duke Energy Progress supplies Mount Gilead's electricity. For gas, Mount Gilead is in the Montgomery County franchise of Piedmont Natural Gas, and about 19 percent of the town's homes heat with piped gas.
Rebate to check in Mount Gilead: Smart $aver Insulate and Seal (Duke Energy; Insulation Pros is an approved trade ally). Before a job in Mount Gilead, check its current terms; the Montgomery County page lists every program.
Attic Insulation Removal in Mount Gilead
In a Mount Gilead attic, only wet, moldy or animal-soiled insulation is vacuumed out (ENERGY STAR's test), once the cause is fixed, and after mice that Mount Gilead attic is sanitized and deodorized; dry, clean insulation stays.
Also Serving Near Mount Gilead
Nearest to Mount Gilead first.
Ansonville, NC
10 miles southwest
461 people, about a third of Mount Gilead's population
Attic insulation in AnsonvilleTroy, NC
12 miles northeast
Center about 260 feet higher than Mount Gilead's; Its NOAA station logs about 280 more heating degree days than Mount Gilead's
Attic insulation in TroyAlbemarle, NC
14 miles northwest
Power from its own town system (Mount Gilead: Duke Energy Progress); 17,769 people, about 15 times Mount Gilead's population
Insulation contractor serving Albemarle
Mount Gilead Insulation FAQs
Does Mount Gilead's preservation commission have to approve attic insulation?
Not the insulation itself. The state's 2023 roster lists a Mount Gilead Historic Preservation Commission. Under North Carolina law, such a commission reviews outside changes in a designated local district or to a landmark and has no say over the interior arrangement. Blowing insulation and sealing gaps happen inside. New roof, ridge or soffit vents alter the outside, so if your property is designated, ask town hall whether that part needs a certificate of appropriateness. The downtown National Register district is a separate listing.
We added a bathroom to our older Mount Gilead house. What should be checked in the attic?
Where its fan blows. A history quoted in the downtown nomination says the town already had many good homes by 1904. The county's 2023 survey found owners across the county keeping older houses up to date. ENERGY STAR wants any kitchen, bath or dryer fan that empties into the attic fixed before insulation goes in. If the duct ends in the attic, it gets run to the outdoors. Then the gaps are sealed and the insulation goes in.
Could the old insulation in a Mount Gilead attic be vermiculite?
It could: about 40 percent of Mount Gilead's homes predate 1960. If a Mount Gilead 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 Mount Gilead need a permit?
Mount Gilead Town Hall can say whether Montgomery County Inspections Department, the town itself or another office handles permits in Mount Gilead; ask before work starts.
Helpful Guides
- Power from Duke Energy Progress: high summer electric bills and home energy audits
Sources
Census Bureau figures for Mount Gilead, NOAA normals for the Wadesboro station, Duke Energy Progress (October 2026). Compiled by Insulation Pros. How the town pages are made.
Sources for the Mount Gilead notes and questions (read October 20, 2026):
- Mount Gilead Downtown Historic District, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- Montgomery County Comprehensive Architectural Survey, Phase I report, 2023 (NC HPO)
- Attic Air Sealing Project, ENERGY STAR
- Historic Preservation Commission Staff in North Carolina, listed by county, as of 2/20/2023 (NC HPO)
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 160D-947, Certificate of appropriateness required
- Attic Insulation Project, ENERGY STAR
Mount Gilead, NC
Open in Google Maps (opens in a new tab)Serving Mount Gilead, NC
Insulation Pros is an insulation contractor serving North Carolina, Mount Gilead and the rest of Montgomery County included.
Reach us
Send the square footage of your Mount Gilead attic, or call (336) 870-3893.