[idlewild]

We recently had our ~300 sq ft. south-facing lanai enclosed with single pain / non-insulated glass on our ~1900 sq ft home. The wife wants "open living" (i.e. to keep the doors to the lanai open) and thought we could do it after we blew insultation into the lanai.

I'm concerned that not only are the new windows and door not double-paned (i.e. no insultation) but also the added space will strain our AC unit In fact, when I saw the price of a mini-split I figured we might be able to extend the existing ductwork into the lanai after insulating, but I was told from multiple contractors that this would strain the AC and is not to code.

Questions: even if we blew insultation, how much cool air would we be bleeding from the single-pain glass? With this leakage and new 300 sq feet to cool, how much of a load/strain would leaving the doors to the lanai open place on our AC unit and is that comparable to having the ducts directly into it?

My idea of "open living" is not keeping the doors open, but rather using the lanai occasionally with the doors open (i.e. air conditioning from the home) but mostly using it later at night with windows open for a breeze to naturally cool it, but I supposed we're going to have to minimally both blow insulation and get a mini-split if my wife wants to keep the doors open all the time, correct?