How much would it cost Carl to lift his house using balloons in Up? Theory and Cost Analysis

I'm making broad estimates based on bulk wholesale websites.

TLDR: It would take $592,600.56 in white 11" balloons (standard size), $916,722.33 in fishing wire, and $1,458,954.92 in helium tanks.

Total: $2,968,277.8

How many balloons would it take to lift an average house?

Based on Slate's estimates [1], it would take "1,492,537 cubic feet of helium to lift the house" from the movie Up.

Balloons

A standard balloon is an 11" size. Which holds 0.403 cu ft of helium per balloon [2].
1,492,537 / 0.403 = 3,703,566 Balloons.
- The only wholesale website I saw that took orders this large was [3]. I used white balloons because I think they would reflect the most sunlight and would keep more balloons intact for a longer period of time.
For 3,703,566 White 11" Balloons, they charge $592,600.56.
- About $0.16 per balloon, which I assume is close to the cost of manufacturing.

String for Balloons

A 2 story house ranges from 6.1 - 7.62 meters in height. I'm going to use 6.1m because Carl is a short boy.
In the movie, the balloons flew 1 to 3 times the height over it. To average it out, I'll use 2 times the height of the house + the height of the house itself (because he strings them from the bottom of the fireplace).
6.1m * 3 * 3,703,566 = 67,775,257.8 meters of string
- It looks like Carl uses fishing wire in the movie so let's go with the lowest grade fishing wire because each balloon is supporting around 0.02 lbs [2].
- I found bulk 100m fishing wire from Alibaba [5]
67,775,257.8 / 100 = 677,753 spools
According to Alibaba, this would cost $916,722.33

Helium Tanks

The largest commercially available helium tank I was able to find was 200 cu ft [4].
1,492,537 / 200 = 7463 tanks
- (If anyone wants to figure out how much space that would take up that would be awesome)
7463 * $195.50 = $1,458,954.92

Total

How did Carl obtain over $3 million (A Theory)

When Carl was evicted, they must have given him a settlement for taking his land. I don't think assaulting the construction guy has legal standing for seizing land. The land was large enough to build a skyscraper on, so it probably held that much value. The city gave him some time to pack his things and move. Carl then spends that time ordering, filling, and constructing his balloon army.

Arguments to be made

(Balloon Dealer)
- By working at the zoo, Carl could have had a special balloon and helium dealer which would cost significantly less than what I predicted. How much less you might ask... Idk ask your local balloon dealer.
(Refilling the tanks)
- Going off my theory above, Carl had limited time to do this, so sending the tanks back wouldn't be a viable option. Plus you'd have to factor in the cost of shipping for a heavy metal tank.

Edit 1: Forgot String

Submitted November 29, 2021 at 09:15AM by ScallopSupreme https://ift.tt/3D8CBDi

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