Reddit reviews Tenmat FF130-E Draft Stop Covers for Recessed Lighting

Looks like you have mold on the bottom of your roof deck. This is because without an insulating draft stop cover these things leak moist air like crazy and the water vapor is collecting on the cold roof deck.(https://www.amazon.com/Tenmat-FF130-Covers-Recessed-Lighting/dp/B002XVPUAO)

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Also looks like you have a major mouse shit issue which means you have a mouse piss issue all over your attic which is probably your smell. Could even be some bonus rotting mouse carcasses up there somewhere. I hope you are wearing a mask when messing with this

https://www.amazon.com/Tenmat-FF130-Covers-Recessed-Lighting/dp/B002XVPUAO/

I don't have an answer but there are alternatives to the 2" rigid foam board boxes. Some people take sonotubes and cap them with foam board or something else.

Or you could take a look at Tenmat covers: http://www.amazon.com/Recessed-Light-Draft-Stop-Cover/dp/B002XVPUAO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1258996712&sr=8-2

> Make sure any recessed lights are IC and AT rated.

I'm thinking about converting my recessed lights (installed by the previous homeowners) to IC-rated ones.

As in interim solution, I replaced the piss-poor "boxes" the previous homeowners put around each light with these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002XVPUAO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

By "boxes", I mean four pieces of shittily-cut drywall loosely placed around each light.

There are specific insulation covers you can get for these because piling insulation on top of them can cause excessive heat and potential fire hazard.

This past winter, I felt a lot of air passing around the recessed lights in our vaulted ceiling (white cedar T&G), so I took the covers off, stuffed some insulation around the sides, then applied silicone caulk between the wood and can openings. I wish I had known about the insulation covers when I installed these during our house build.

You guys/gals(?) are awesome. Thank you.

It sounds like I have my work cut out for me. I've been doing research on air sealing and I can definitely see where that is probably my biggest priority. This house was built during the 2006 construction boom (which was especially feverish here in Bend, Oregon) and I'm sure that lots and lots and lots of small/medium (maybe even large?) gaps are scattered through the attic floor.

So--I need to get a whole bunch of expanding foam, silicone caulk, garbage bags and fiberglass batting, etc. Some more specific questions:

1.) How the *%$& am I supposed to move all of that blown-in fiberglass insulation? (I mistakenly said it was cellulose--it appears to be fiberglass!) Do I just pile it all out of my work area, do the sealing, and then pile it back? Holy crap this sounds awful.

2.) On that note--I read that it was necessary to get a relatively clean surface before applying adhesive insulations (sprayfoam/caulk). They suggested a vacuum would be necessary. Seriously??? +1 PITA factor.

3.) On the furnace: The air supply enters a metal box (basically the "top" of the furance) which then branches off into insulated ducts. The ducts seem to be well insulated. But the metal box isn't insulated at all--feels very warm to the touch. Can I insulate this part of the furnace? And if so, what would be the appropriate type of insulation? Since its a box, it seems like the rigid foam-board styrofoam insulation would be easy and 'clean'. To clarify, the part of the furnace I am talking about is shown in this video, where I showed our previous homeowner the big gap in the furance: https://youtu.be/biD6_NJaNEU The box that used to have the gap is the box I am talking about insulating.

4. What do you all think about these recessing lighting can covers? https://www.amazon.com/Tenmat-FF130-E-Covers-Recessed-Lighting/dp/B002XVPUAO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483677859&sr=8-1&keywords=TENMAT Seems like a better idea than just dousing the can with spray foam!

Thanks, all!