condensation on ductwork and cooling efficiency

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

Reply to
Rodney Clough
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Foil? Or fiberglass in foil. Foil has zero insulation value

Reply to
m Ransley

Incorrect.

Nick

Reply to
Nick Pine

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

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

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

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

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

Reply to
steve

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