I get where you’re coming from, but I actually went with spray foam in my attic last year and, honestly, it made a bigger difference than I expected. My house isn’t super drafty or ancient—built in the late 80s—but I was tired of fiddling with batts and foam boards that never seemed to fit right. The upfront cost was a punch in the gut, but my heating bills dropped and the upstairs is finally the same temp as the rest of the house. I do get that it’s not for everyone, and yeah, it’s probably overkill if you’re just patching a few spots. But for anyone who’s sick of chasing down air leaks every season, it might be worth looking into. Just my two cents... I guess it depends how much hassle you’re willing to put up with year after year.
I went back and forth on spray foam too, but ended up just sealing the obvious gaps and adding more batt insulation. My house is early 90s and not too drafty, but I totally get what you mean about being tired of patching every year. For me, the step-by-step was: find the worst leaks with a smoke pen, seal those with canned foam, then lay new batts over the old ones. Not as dramatic as spray foam, but it helped a lot with upstairs temps.
The upfront cost was a punch in the gut, but my heating bills dropped and the upstairs is finally the same temp as the rest of the house.
I’m still curious if I’ll end up going full spray foam down the line... but for now, just sealing and layering has been a decent fix.