I have a two part problem, and appreciate any advice you folks may have.

I'm having a problem with condensation on my a/c ducts in the crawlspace.
The ducts are insulated with the standard foil insulation. Water is
dripping off the outside of the insulation and puddling on the vapor
barrier, and the insulation is wet inside. If I punch a small hole in the
foil, water drains out. The crawl space is vented with automatic opening
vents. I do not have a fan or dehumidifier installed down there, at least
not yet. I'm starting to get some mold under there, and I know I have to do
something about this. I first became aware of this last year, when the
termite guy came to inspect. I'm not sure if it was happening before or
not. Last year I ran a fan in the crawl space door and it dried up, so I
promptly forgot about it. That doesn't seem to be working all that well
this year, but it has been much wetter this year than last.

Here's the second part - Our a/c has not been cooling well the last few
days. It does OK at night, but during the day the house has been staying
around 75 degrees and the a/c runs continuously. It's been in the mid to
upper 80s with humidity probably in the 60-85% range. My first thought was
that I may be low on refrigerant, but I'm also wondering if the wet
insulation and condensation on the ducts could be impacting the cooling
efficiency so much that it's not cooling the house well. I'll probably have
someone come out tomorrow to look the a/c unit over, but I need to develop a
comprehensive strategy to deal with the moisture and get my a/c working well
again before my polar bear wife kills me.

Could the wet ducts be part of my cooling problem?

Any advice on controlling the moisture?

I live in Fredericksburg, VA, near DC, so it's pretty humid here. AC unit
is a 2.5 ton 5 year old
Carrier. We have natural gas for heat. The house is two story, about 1850
square feet, and we do not have a split system.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Rod

Foil? Or fiberglass in foil. Foil has zero insulation value

m Ransley wrote:

...Foil has zero insulation value

Incorrect.

Nick

Nick Pine wrote:
m Ransley wrote:

...Foil has zero insulation value

Incorrect.

Nick

Yea, in this case it is worth about 0.003 inches of fiberglass. :-)

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math

That's consistent for Ransley. He is nothing if not consistent.

--

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
www.mormons.com


"Nick Pine" wrote in message
...
m Ransley wrote:

...Foil has zero insulation value

Incorrect.

Nick

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
That's consistent for Ransley. He is nothing if not consistent.

Kinda like you....stupid, stupid, and more stupid...
VERY consistant..



--

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
www.mormons.com


"Nick Pine" wrote in message
...
m Ransley wrote:

...Foil has zero insulation value

Incorrect.

Nick