Hvac and insulation guys I need some advice

[Bennylava]

Well the Texas summer heat has is here, and my house's AC just can't keep up. It runs all day long, and doesn't actually cool the house to 74 degrees. It can only cool it to about 76 degrees in the afternoon. Cearly I have some kind of problem, and I think it's air escaping the house. I've tried to fix this before by having that attic foil stuff installed. Then I had some company do 12" of the blown in insulation. I think the attic is taken care of.

I wanted to ask where the air typically escapes from a normal brick house with slab foundation. Is it the front and back door?

If so, which seals would you recommend? Is there a superior seal available, or should I just go with whatever Lowes has?

Thank you

 

[WisJim]

A blower door test would tell you where leaks are for sure. Air leaking into the house is probably the problem. Did you have the attic sealed (between the attic and the conditioned space in the house) before the blown-in insulation? And what is "attic foil stuff"?

 

[Bennylava]

A blower door test would tell you where leaks are for sure. Air leaking into the house is probably the problem. Did you have the attic sealed (between the attic and the conditioned space in the house) before the blown-in insulation? And what is "attic foil stuff"?

We did not have the attic sealed. Did not know that was a thing.


The attic foil is something that you staple to the underside of the roof. We did notice a drop in our electric bill after putting it in. Went from $350 in the summer down to $250 in the following years.

AtticFoil® Radiant Barrier | Reflective Foil Insulation

AtticFoil® radiant barrier supply sells foil insulation for blocking heat in both hot and cold climates.

www.atticfoil.com

 

[462867aa]

How are the ducts? I replaced my flex ducts with hard duct. Made a world of difference in ac performance

 

[MovingAlong]

You didn't mention how old your current system is. A good cleaning of outdoor coils, indoor coils, blower and ducts can help ease the airflow.

But at the end of the day, what worked for me was a new variable speed system designed to run 23 out of 24 hrs a day. Keeps the thermal cycling (warm/cool/warm/cool/etc) of the walls/floors/furniture/etc.. to a minimum and eliminated hot spots in the house because there is always cool air moving. Most of the time the system idled around 30-40% but would kick up higher as needed. Changed my life...

Oh, and it also cut my electric bill in half!