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St. James, NC
2 miles northeast
Median home built 2011 (Oak Island: 1997)
Attic insulation in St. JamesAttic Insulation in Oak Island, NC
Blown-in attic insulation for Oak Island, NC, in Brunswick County, plus removal and air sealing.
About Oak Island and Its Homes
Oak Island became one town in 1999, when the General Assembly merged the charters of Long Beach and Yaupon Beach. Hurricane Hazel swept away nearly every building on Long Beach in 1954, so its houses come almost entirely from the rebuilding that followed and the decades after it.
Oak Island, in Brunswick County, grew from 8,386 people in 2020 to 9,337 in 2025 (Census Bureau estimates), on 19.3 square miles. That makes Oak Island the second-largest town in Brunswick County.
Oak Island has about 10,800 housing units, 11 percent of Brunswick County's; 90 percent of the town's households own their home. Only about 4,600 of those 10,800 units were someone's usual home in the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 survey; the heating and owner figures on this page describe those 4,600.
Oak Island at a Glance
- County: Brunswick County
- Population: 9,337 (2025), 8,386 (2020), up 11.3%
- Land area: 19.3 square miles (485 people each)
- Housing units: about 10,800 (±371)
- Median year built: 1997 (±3); Brunswick County: 2002
- Owner-occupied: 90% (±4); Brunswick County: 85%
- Detached houses: 87% (±2); Brunswick County: 69%
- Attached houses: 2% (±1)
- Apartments: 5% (±2)
- Mobile homes: 7% (±2)
- Climate zone: 3 on both maps
- ENERGY STAR target for Oak Island attics: R-49 from bare, R-38 over 3 to 4 inches (R-value guide)
Census Bureau estimates for Oak Island, 2020 to 2024 (± margin of error).
Oak Island Homes and Their Attics
Long Beach Before and After Hazel
Lots at Long Beach first sold in 1939, and buyers started building that summer. On the eve of Hazel, October 15, 1954, about 357 buildings stood there. The state's marker for the storm says its 17-foot surge swept away 352 of them. Rebuilding started that November, and Yaupon Beach was founded on the island in 1955. A house from those years went up well before January 1, 1978, the date from which North Carolina tied the occupancy of new homes to its insulation standards. What its attic holds depends on how it was built and what owners have added, and the crew measures it before any new layer goes on.
Attic Insulation in Oak Island
Some 8 percent of Oak Island's homes predate 1970; if your joists show above the insulation, ENERGY STAR says to add more insulation.
From 1990 to 2009, 34 percent of Oak Island homes were built to codes below ENERGY STAR's target; check their eaves, where ENERGY STAR says insulation is often thinnest.
The Local Climate
Oak Island's center sits near sea level, 10 miles from NOAA's Southport 5 N station, the best match for Oak Island. The station's 1991 to 2020 normals average about 2,200 heating and 2,230 cooling degree days a year, so Oak Island attics work in both seasons.
The state energy code marks Brunswick County warm and humid.
Homes by Age: What It Means for the Attic
Some 87 percent of Oak Island housing units are detached single-family houses.
Built from 1970 to 1989, 31 percent of Oak Island homes may hold settled fiberglass; check its depth against the joists.
About 18 percent of Oak Island's housing units predate 1980; nearly all predate the state's 1978 insulation rule too.
Homes by Year Built
- Before 1940: under 1%
- 1940s: 0% (±1), about 35 units
- 1950s: 3% (±1), about 290 units
- 1960s: 4% (±1), about 480 units
- 1970s: 11% (±2), about 1,170 units
- 1980s: 20% (±3), about 2,200 units
- 1990s: 15% (±3), about 1,610 units
- 2000s: 20% (±3), about 2,100 units
- 2010s: 23% (±4), about 2,500 units
- 2020 or later: 4% (±1), about 420 units
Air Sealing and Duct Sealing in Oak Island
In Oak Island, 92 percent of households 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: 92% (±3), about 4,200 households; Brunswick County: 87%
- Piped gas: 3% (±2), about 125 households
- Bottled or tank gas: 4% (±2), about 205 households
Power, Gas and Rebates
Duke Energy Progress serves most of Oak Island, Brunswick Electric its edges; your bill says which. For gas, Oak Island is in the Brunswick County franchise of Piedmont Natural Gas, whose mains may not reach every street in Oak Island. Duke's free House Call fits many Oak Island homes: 92 percent of households heat with electricity.
Rebate to check in Oak Island: Smart $aver Insulate and Seal (Duke Energy; Insulation Pros is an approved trade ally). Before a job in Oak Island, check its current terms; the Brunswick County page lists every program.
Attic Insulation Removal in Oak Island
In an Oak Island attic, only wet, moldy or animal-soiled insulation is vacuumed out (ENERGY STAR's test), once the cause is fixed, and after mice that Oak Island attic is sanitized and deodorized; dry, clean insulation stays.
Also Serving Near Oak Island
Nearest to Oak Island first.
Caswell Beach, NC
4 miles east
Median home built 1998 (Oak Island: 1997); 381 people, under a tenth of Oak Island's population
Attic insulation in Caswell BeachSouthport, NC
7 miles east
Median home built 2003 (Oak Island: 1997); Power from its own town system (Oak Island: Duke Energy Progress)
Attic insulation in SouthportVarnamtown, NC
7 miles west
Median home built 1990 (Oak Island: 1997); Its NOAA station logs about 230 more heating degree days than Oak Island's
Attic insulation in VarnamtownBald Head Island, NC
9 miles east
Median home built 2002 (Oak Island: 1997); 279 people, under a tenth of Oak Island's population
Attic insulation in Bald Head Island
Oak Island Insulation FAQs
What should I check in my Oak Island attic after a hurricane?
First the roof deck, then the insulation lying under it. In Florence in 2018, the Weather Service recorded a 72 mph gust on the island and almost 27 inches of rain at a gauge nearby. It found the wind damage there was mostly to shingles and siding. Isaias in 2020 brought an 87 mph gust there. Where shingles went missing, rain can reach the insulation. To ENERGY STAR, soaked insulation means a leak overhead. Shingles and decking are mended first, and only then is that layer vacuumed out and replaced.
Does the Fort Caswell historic district include any Oak Island homes?
No. Fort Caswell, the island's one National Register district, lies at the eastern tip in the Town of Caswell Beach, its nomination says. Nothing inside Oak Island's own limits appears on the state's National Register roster, and Brunswick County had no local preservation commission in the state's 2023 count. And the Historic Preservation Office notes that a register listing, where there is one, binds no owner who pays for work privately.
Does attic insulation in Oak Island need a permit?
Oak Island Town Hall can say whether Brunswick County Permits & Development, the town itself or another office handles permits in Oak Island; ask before work starts.
Helpful Guides
- Brunswick County is warm and humid by the state energy code: attic condensation and mold and attic ventilation
- Power from Duke Energy Progress: high summer electric bills and home energy audits
Sources
Census Bureau figures for Oak Island, NOAA normals for the Southport 5 N station, Duke Energy Progress (October 2026). Compiled by Insulation Pros. How the town pages are made.
Sources for the Oak Island notes and questions (read October 20, 2026):
- Session Law 1999-66, An act to revise and consolidate the charters of the Town of Yaupon Beach and the Town of Long Beach and establish a charter for the consolidated Town of Oak Island, North Carolina General Assembly
- Hurricane Hazel (D-109), North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program, NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
- Comprehensive Historical/Architectural Site Survey of Brunswick County, North Carolina (Landmark Preservation Associates, September 2010), NC HPO
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 143-139.2, Enforcement of insulation requirements; certificate for occupancy
- Hurricane Florence, September 14, 2018, event summary, National Weather Service Wilmington
- Hurricane Isaias, August 3-4, 2020, event summary, National Weather Service Wilmington
- Attic Insulation Project, ENERGY STAR
- Fort Caswell Historic District, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- 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)
- What Is the National Register of Historic Places?, NC State Historic Preservation Office
Oak Island, NC
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Insulation Pros is an insulation contractor serving North Carolina, Oak Island and the rest of Brunswick County included.
Reach us
Send the square footage of your Oak Island attic, or call (336) 870-3893.