Insulation and air sealing for St. George homes: attics, crawl spaces, rim joists and walls, starting with a free assessment of the R-value you actually have. The typical home here dates to the late-1970s, and 9% of its 1,012 homes went up before 1940.
St. George runs to about 2.8 square miles and roughly 2,154 people. It sits about 47 miles northwest of downtown Charleston. Around 1,012 housing units sit inside those boundaries. The community dates back to 1875. We cover ZIP code 29477.
No completed job in St. George is logged in our records yet, and this page will say so until one is.
The typical home in St. George dates to around the late-1970s. Postwar building here often meant three or four inches of fiberglass and no attempt at air sealing. If nobody has touched it since, that is what is still up there.
The Dorchester County seat since the county was formed in 1897, a small town that grew up on both sides of the old South Carolina Railroad line (it began as George's Station) near where I-26 and I-95 cross.
The Census Bureau estimates 1,012 homes in St. George. 96 of them (9%) went up before 1940 — 7th of 28 places on this site for pre-1940 housing. The 1980s were the busiest decade, adding 270 of today's homes (27%); 56% predate 1980 and 11% were built in 2000 or later. For Dorchester County as a whole the pre-1940 share is 2%, so St. George sits above it.
Of 832 occupied homes, 16% heat with utility gas and 73% with electricity; another 8% burn propane or other tank gas. Electric heat here is less common than across the county (75%), and ranks 24th of 28 on this site. That is why the assessment asks how the house is heated: the fuel and the name on the utility bill decide which program, if any, can pay toward the work.
49% of occupied homes are owner-occupied and 57% of all homes are single-family detached houses, with 221 mobile homes in the count. Read together, those numbers point toward an attic top-up over postwar fiberglass and an energy assessment before deciding what to fix first.
| Built | Homes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1940 | 96 | 9% | |
| 1940s | 66 | 7% | |
| 1950s | 105 | 10% | |
| 1960s | 103 | 10% | |
| 1970s | 198 | 20% | |
| 1980s | 270 | 27% | |
| 1990s | 62 | 6% | |
| 2000s | 24 | 2% | |
| 2010s | 88 | 9% | |
| 2020 or later | 0 | 0% |
1,012 homes, Census ACS 2020–2024 (B25034, B25040, B25003); 832 occupied.
332 of St. George's 1,012 homes (33%) were built in the 1980s and 1990s. The gaps in houses of that age are the parts nobody sealed: batts stuffed into the rim joist, bare spots over cathedral and tray ceilings, soffit vents buried with no baffles, can lights punched through the ceiling plane. A top-up plus a day of sealing usually covers it.
St. George enforces the South Carolina Energy Standard (the 2009 IECC), by state law. The town publishes no code list of its own; the energy standard here, as everywhere in South Carolina, is the 2009 IECC.
For new work, the attic number under that edition is R-30, with walls at R-13. Set that against the Department of Energy, which recommends R49 for an uninsulated attic in this climate zone and R38 for one that already has a few inches.
Table 402.1.1 of the 2009 IECC, climate zone 3, which South Carolina's Energy Standard Act adopts for the whole state (section 6-10-30 of the South Carolina Code).
Nothing St. George publishes settles this. Its permit lists name the work types it cares about, and insulation is not among them in either direction. St. George's zoning ordinance says building permits are obtained from the Town of St. George after a town zoning permit, and the town posts a 'Scope of Work for Alterations / Repairs / Additions' form for describing smaller jobs. The town does not publish whether adding insulation alone needs a permit, so ask Town Hall before work starts. So we ask the department directly before the first day on site, and whatever comes back, pulling it is our job rather than yours.
St. George posts a business license application with a section for construction jobs (general contractor, state contractor license number and contract amount), and its residential permit checklist asks for a list of subcontractors and their business licenses before permanent power is released. No town page states a general business license rule for every contractor.
The published number is 843-563-3032. The department page is here.
Permitting is on us, not on you.
Berkeley Electric Cooperative's own territory map shows none of its service inside St. George; the other electric utilities on record for Dorchester County are Dominion Energy South Carolina, Edisto Electric Cooperative and Coastal Electric Cooperative. Dominion Energy South Carolina's Check-up Plus is the big one: 90% of attic insulation, air sealing and duct sealing paid, up to $2,880, until March 31, 2027, for electrically heated homes that have had the free check-up, with the work done by Dominion's approved contractor.
Coastal Electric members can borrow up to $10,000 on the bill; Edisto Electric lists no insulation program. Income-qualified households can apply to Palmetto Community Action Partnership (843-720-5336) for free weatherization instead. Every condition attached is on the Dorchester County page and in the rebate guide.
Every layer of an insulated attic, explained
Elsewhere in Dorchester County we also cover:
South Carolina sets the residential energy code statewide, so the attic figure is R-30 wherever it is published here; what changes is the permit desk, and none of the 4 publishes a permit rule for insulation.
| City | Energy code | Attic R required | Permit to insulate | Building dept. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. George | 2009 IECC (state law) | R-30 | Not published | 843-563-3032 |
| Unincorporated Dorchester County | 2009 IECC (state law) | R-30 | Not published | 843-832-0011 |
| Ridgeville | 2009 IECC (state law) | R-30 | Not published | 843-832-0011 |
| Summerville | 2009 IECC (state law) | R-30 | Not published | 843-851-5200 |
All 4 Dorchester County jurisdictions side by side →
St. George enforces the 2009 IECC (state law), which sets R-30 for an attic in new work. Whether it reaches a retrofit of an existing house is not published.
Not on paper: St. George names neither a permit nor an exemption for insulation, so one call to the department at 843-563-3032 settles it first.
Dominion Energy South Carolina's Check-up Plus pays 90% of attic insulation, air sealing and duct sealing, up to $2,880, until March 31, 2027, for electrically heated homes; the program's contractor does the work. Berkeley Electric's map shows none of its service here. Coastal Electric lends up to $10,000. The federal 25C credit ended for work placed in service after December 31, 2025.
The typical home in St. George dates to around the late-1970s; the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 median year built is 1977. Of its 1,012 homes, 9% went up before 1940 and 11% in 2000 or later. Half the homes here are older than that and half newer; yours may sit at either end.
Code and permit facts checked October 24, 2026, rebates October 24, 2026; housing: Census ACS 2020–2024. Sources: saintgeorgesc.org (2, 3, 4) · img1.wsimg.com (2, 3, 4, 5, 6) · scstatehouse.gov (2) · en.wikipedia.org (2) · www2.census.gov · dominionenergy.com · berkeleyelectric.coop · santeecooper.com · coastal.coop · energystar.gov · data.census.gov. These change; confirm with the building department at 843-563-3032 or the utility named on your electric bill first.
Free assessment, a measured R-value, and photos you keep either way.
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