I hate climbing into the attic for any reason, whether it’s maintenance work or a quest to find something that was stored away 10 years ago.

It’s extremely dusty up there, and the number of spiders would make anyone terrified. My wife and I used to hide Christmas presents up there until we lost a few gifts one year, only to accidentally stumble upon them years later while reorganizing all of our junk up there. Nowadays we only keep a handful of boxes and random pieces of old furniture in our dusty attic. After the kids moved out, we started using one of their rooms for any additional storage we might need so that attic access would be a choice and not a necessity. Despite this, there’s one central reason that forces me to keep going back up to that dreaded attic space. Unfortunately, that’s where the air handler for our central air conditioner is located. Whenever I want to replace the filter, I have to climb up into the attic and stumble around to get to the air handler without stepping on a piece of ductwork or a wooden rafter. Right now I’m noticing a bit of mildew growing on the metal surface of the air handler. It’s really hot outside right now and the air handler sweats condensation while it runs. After enough condensation forms without being able to sufficiently dry, it starts to breed mold and mildew growth. I always wipe it away with a heavy peroxide solution to kill the microbial growth, but I want to figure out a way to better insulate the air handler from the warm attic air. Doing so would probably improve the air conditioner’s energy efficiency in the process.
Energy saving help