One Jericho home in eight is attached. 12.3% of the hamlet’s 4,473 housing units, 549 of them, are townhouses or duplex halves, and another 8.1% sit in buildings of five to nine units, a mix few of the ranch-and-cape hamlets nearby share. The rest is the post-war North Shore. Detached houses make up 68.0% of units, the 1950s produced 41.1% of the stock and the 1960s 20.9%, and the median Jericho home was built in 1961, later than most of Nassau.
Jericho lies in the Town of Oyster Bay, about 29 miles east of Midtown Manhattan, and is split between the Jericho Union Free and Syosset Central school districts, whose lines do not follow the hamlet’s edge. Homes inside the Jericho district can sell for several hundred thousand dollars more than similar homes just outside it. 81.7% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, and heat is 56.9% utility gas, 25.3% fuel oil, 15.3% electricity and 1.4% bottled gas.
So the usual Jericho job is a modest 1950s or 60s house bought at a high price for the long haul, or an attached home whose attic may not be the owner’s to insulate.
The houses we insulate in Jericho
Jericho was part of the Robert Williams Plantation in 1648, farmed by English families who became Quakers, and it dropped the name Lusum in 1692. After World War II Phebe Underhill Seaman sold a large piece of her land to developers; the water tower rose in 1952, and elementary schools followed in 1953, 1957, 1961 and 1963. In 1958 the state Department of Transportation demolished Old Jericho to widen Broadway and build a cloverleaf onto Jericho Turnpike. The 1,839 units from the 1950s and 933 from the 1960s are that build-out.
The 1950s ranch is where most Jericho jobs begin. One ceiling separates every room from a low attic, and it is pierced at the hall-closet hatch, the flue and plumbing chases, the light boxes, the bath fan and, most of all, the soffits framed over the kitchen cabinets, which are often hollow boxes open to the attic. Decades of settling leave the old fill a few inches deep, and out at the eaves, where the rafters bear on the plate, there may be none. A cape of the same years adds knee walls facing unheated space, with floor joists running open beneath them to the eave.
Split-levels, typical of the 1960s, leak in three places: a lower family room on a slab whose uninsulated edge chills the floor along the outside walls; bedrooms over the garage resting on open joist bays; and the upper-level wall rising beside the lower roof, whose attic side is sometimes bare studs. Larger 1960s and 70s colonials add a cantilevered overhang whose floor is exposed behind a thin soffit board, and a family-room fireplace with an open gap around its chimney.
11.8% of units date from the 1980s, 3.7% from the 1990s and 9.6% from 2000 on. Their walls were insulated when built, so the leaks we chase are a factory-built fireplace in a framed chase open to the attic, thin-walled skylight shafts, a two-story entry, and an attic air handler with its ducts outside the insulation. In a townhouse the party wall often stops at the ceiling, joining two attics into one. For the 549 attached homes and the units in buildings of five or more, an association may own the roof, attic and walls, and then the board decides.
Only 162 units, 3.6%, predate 1940, but they hold the hamlet’s history. The Friends Meeting House of 1788 is still in use, and the 1789 home of the Quaker abolitionist Valentine Hicks, now known as One North, was an Underground Railroad station, with a removable panel behind an upstairs linen closet hiding a stair to the attic. The oldest of them are not simple stud walls, so we work from the attic and cellar, check the wiring first, and leave plaster and siding alone.
On gas, the savings come off a National Grid bill. In the 25.3% of homes on oil they come as fewer deliveries, their value rising and falling with the price of oil. In the 15.3% heated with electricity, each winter’s savings show on the PSEG Long Island bill, and a heat pump chosen for a sealed house can be a smaller one.
Bought for the schools: insulating a Jericho house before you move in
Jericho homes sell for more than size or finish alone explains, because buyers want houses zoned for the Jericho Union Free School District. A family paying that for a 1950s ranch or a 1960s split is usually buying for the school years ahead, and the weeks between closing and moving day are the easiest time the house will ever have for sealing and insulation.
An empty house is easier to work in. With nothing stored on the attic floor, every bay can be reached, sealed and filled; knee-wall doors and the closet under the hatch are clear; and no furniture needs protecting while a wall is filled or a larger hatch is cut. The basement rim can be sealed before a playroom is framed over it, and the floor of the bedroom over the garage insulated before it is carpeted. A home inspection report notes insulation depth, but it rarely says whether the soffits are open or the ducts leak.
Put the trades in order. Wiring and recessed lights go in first, and the lights should be airtight fixtures rated for contact with insulation. If central air is planned, fix the duct routes before the attic is filled, not after. Paint and floors come last. If you want PSEG Long Island’s rebates, its free Whole House Energy Assessment comes before the work, so schedule it early.
We seal before we insulate
Fiberglass or cellulose on an attic floor resists conducted heat. Air escaping past it through soffits, chases and light boxes carries its warmth straight out, however deep the pile, so the holes in a Jericho ceiling get closed first.
In a 1950s Jericho ranch: cap the kitchen and bath soffits from above with rigid board sealed at the edges; seal the top plates, plumbing stack, light boxes and hatch; fit sheet metal around the flue chase and seal it with high-temperature caulk; run the bath fan outdoors; baffle each eave to keep the soffit vents clear; then blow the attic to depth. In a split-level the garage ceiling and the attic-side wall between levels join the list. The basement rim and sill come last.
If a quote specifies a depth of insulation and never mentions air sealing, it is half a job.
What insulation costs in Jericho
Most of our projects run between $3,500 and $12,500. In a Jericho ranch the number follows the attic area, the soffits to cap and any attic ductwork to seal. A split adds the garage ceiling, the wall between levels and sometimes the family-room slab edge; a 1960s colonial adds the overhang and the fireplace chase. A townhouse is usually smaller, centered on the party wall and attic plane where the owner holds them.
Open cell foam runs R-3.9 to R-4.2 per inch. Closed cell runs R-6.9 to R-7.1 per inch and also acts as a vapor retarder, which is why it costs more and why it is right in some assemblies and unnecessary in others. All products are manufactured in the United States and meet applicable building code and safety standards. ENERGY STAR says sealing air leaks and adding insulation can save up to 10% on annual energy bills.
Insulation rebates in Jericho
Jericho’s electricity comes from PSEG Long Island, and National Grid supplies gas on many of its streets, not all. The electric company sets the program here, and NYSERDA’s Comfort Home is not open to PSEG Long Island homes.
For a market-rate single-family home, PSEG Long Island lists a $2,500 insulation rebate, a $1,000 air-sealing rebate and a $500 duct-sealing rebate, with higher amounts for income-qualified homes and homes in state-designated disadvantaged communities, paid through its participating contractors after a free Whole House Energy Assessment. Homes heated with oil, gas, propane or electricity all qualify; insulation must be paired with blower-door-assisted air sealing, and ducts in unconditioned space must be sealed. The list is written for single-family homes, so a Jericho townhouse or condo owner should confirm with PSEG Long Island first.
Income-eligible owners and renters of one- to four-family homes can use NYSERDA’s EmPower+, which pays for air sealing and insulation at no cost up to $14,000 for lower-income households (in Nassau, at or below $79,163 for two people) or half the cost up to $7,000 for moderate-income households (below $105,550 for two), through an EmPower+ contractor. Long Island households should check eligibility on the MyEnergy portal. National Grid’s Long Island insulation rebate program is not taking new applications.
NYSERDA’s Green Jobs–Green New York program offers unsecured loans of $1,500 to $25,000 over 5, 10 or 15 years, on the utility bill or as a monthly loan; PSEG Long Island customers apply for the on-bill version through PSEG Long Island. Every program pays through its own participating contractors, so confirm the installer with the program before signing. The federal insulation tax credit (Section 25C) ended for work placed in service after 31 December 2025, and New York has no state tax credit for insulation. Our New York and New Jersey rebate guide covers each program.
Code and climate in Jericho
74.9% of Jericho’s housing was built before 1980. New York’s first statewide energy code took effect on 1 January 1979, decades after the hamlet’s first ranches and capes went up. Nassau County is Climate Zone 4.
The 2025 Energy Conservation Construction Code of New York State has applied to new work since 31 December 2025: R-49 ceilings, or R-38 over the whole ceiling where full-height, uncompressed R-38 extends over the wall top plate at the eaves; R-30 floors; basement and crawl space walls at R-15 continuous, R-19, or R-13 plus R-5 continuous; U-0.27 windows; and no more than 3.0 air changes per hour at 50 pascals.
A Jericho house already standing is treated differently. Unaltered portions need not comply, and New York’s code does not require a blower door test when you insulate an existing home. Cavities a renovation exposes must be insulated to full depth at R-3 per inch or better. ENERGY STAR recommends R-60 for an uninsulated attic in this zone and R-49 where 3 to 4 inches are already down.
Common questions about insulation in Jericho
Do you install insulation in Jericho, NY?
Yes. Jericho belongs to the Town of Oyster Bay, and the bulk of our work in the hamlet is the 1950s ranches and capes, 41.1% of its housing, plus the 1960s split-levels and colonials: attic floors, kitchen soffits, knee walls, garage ceilings, overhangs and basement rims. We also work on newer houses, where attic ducts and fireplace chases are the job, and on attached homes where the owner holds the attic; where an association owns it, the board decides.
How much does insulation cost in Jericho?
Most projects run $3,500 to $12,500. A 1950s ranch attic with its soffits capped, eaves baffled and ceiling sealed usually falls toward the lower end. A split-level with a garage ceiling and a cold slab, or a 1960s colonial with an overhang and attic ductwork, costs more. Townhouse jobs tend to be smaller. There is no charge for the walk-through or for the written price that follows it.
Are there insulation rebates in Jericho?
Yes, from PSEG Long Island, which supplies Jericho’s electricity. It lists a $2,500 insulation rebate, a $1,000 air-sealing rebate and $500 for duct sealing for market-rate single-family homes, more for income-qualified homes, paid through its participating contractors after a free Whole House Energy Assessment; oil-heated and electrically heated homes qualify. Income-eligible households can look at EmPower+. Comfort Home is not offered to PSEG Long Island customers, 25C ended for work placed in service after 31 December 2025, and New York has no state insulation credit.
We close on a Jericho house next month. Should the insulation go in before we move?
If you can arrange it, yes. An empty attic can be sealed and filled bay by bay with nothing to move, the closets and knee-wall doors are clear, and no furniture needs covering. Have the electrician and any air conditioning contractor finish in the attic first, and paint afterward. PSEG Long Island’s free assessment has to come before any rebate work, so book it early. We can walk the house as soon as you have access to it.
Free energy audit in Jericho
In a Jericho house we begin overhead: the fill depth at the eaves, the kitchen and bath soffits seen from above, the flue chase, the hatch, and any air handler and ducts. Below that, whichever applies: cape knee walls, a split’s garage ceiling and family-room slab, a colonial’s overhang, a townhouse party wall. The basement rim and sill close the visit. An empty house can be seen top to bottom in one visit. When the attic turns out fine and the garage ceiling is what needs work, we say that plainly. The written scope and price are free and carry no obligation.
Call 914-825-6824 or use our contact form. Open 8am–8pm, seven days. We work out of New Rochelle, NY with a 100-plus in-house crew that never subcontracts.
Learn more
- Insulation contractors across Nassau County
- Insulation in Syosset
- Insulation in Westbury
- Insulation in Hicksville
- Attic insulation
- Garage and room-over-garage insulation
- Air sealing