u/sambasil01

Remove Air Seal and Re-insulate. Worth it?

Hi - I’m in Florida. It’s been wildly hot recently. Attic had fiberglass blown in when it was built 20’years ago to R30. FL’s standard is R-38 now and I’m sure the original had decompressed. I had a few quotes to air seal and top off but they all said the old insulation should be removed for optimal air seal. A few suggestions from Reddit said I can air seal with existing insulation then top off. My coordination won’t let me walk the attic. Quotes are ranging from 5k-6.5k, so it’s quite steep. My Wifey and I are worried that paying all this money may not improve comfort much. I know it’s going to be forever to recover the cost, so that part is what it is. We had a blower door score of 6, so somewhat leaky but seems to be within FL standard. But if it only improves comfort by 5-10% then not sure if it’s worth the money. Any opinion if it’s still worth the attempt?

Hi - I’m in Florida. It’s been wildly hot recently. Attic had fiberglass blown in when it was built 20’years ago to R30. FL’s standard is R-38 now and I’m sure the original had decompressed. I had a few quotes to air seal and top off but they all said the old insulation should be removed for optimal air seal. A few suggestions from Reddit said I can air seal with existing insulation then top off. My coordination won’t let me walk the attic. Quotes are ranging from 5k-6.5k, so it’s quite steep. My Wifey and I are worried that paying all this money may not improve comfort much. I know it’s going to be forever to recover the cost, so that part is what it is. We had a blower door score of 6, so somewhat leaky but seems to be within FL standard. But if it only improves comfort by 5-10% then not sure if it’s worth the money. Any opinion if it’s still worth the attempt?

I have a 1 month old who was diagnosed with a large VSD. She has been gaining weight the past month and is on furosemide. Doctor said that she’s doing good with gaining weight but wanted to wait until 4-6 months to determine whether she needs surgery. Anyone knows what the determining factor to have the surgery scheduled? If she continues to gain weight, do we just keep waiting or at some point, we will have to do the surgery? Thank you

Please forgive my ignorance as I don’t work on HVAC and just a curious homeowner looking to improve their AC unit.

I have a 4 ton Trane unit. According to the rabbit hole i went that, this equals to 1609 CFM for the supply

I have 2 returns. One has a 24 x 18 grille/filter tied to a 16” duct and another with a 18 x 18 grille/filter tied to a 10” duct.

Looking at the duct sizes alone, this equates to about 1350 cfm in the return, not accounting for any potential losses. The air handler and the larger return are on the opposite end of a 2100 sq ft house.

Does this mean there’s not enough return for my AC and putting in addition return(s) would help? Any advice would be appreciated