diff --git a/charts/fullstack-deployment/config-files/otel-collector-config.yaml b/charts/fullstack-deployment/config-files/otel-collector-config.yaml
index b540aa169..47794d453 100644
--- a/charts/fullstack-deployment/config-files/otel-collector-config.yaml
+++ b/charts/fullstack-deployment/config-files/otel-collector-config.yaml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ exporters:
     const_labels:
       source: p-{{ default "otel-collector" .otelDefaults.nameOverride }} # PromQL: {source="p-otel-collector"}
 
-  {{- if eq .otelDefaults.exporters.prometheusRemoteWrite.enabled "true" }}
+  {{- if .otelDefaults.exporters.prometheusRemoteWrite.enabled }}
   prometheusremotewrite:
     endpoint: "{{ .otelDefaults.exporters.prometheusRemoteWrite.endpoint }}"
     tls:
@@ -55,6 +55,6 @@ service:
       processors: [batch]
       exporters:
         - prometheus
-        {{- if eq .otelDefaults.exporters.prometheusRemoteWrite.enabled "true" }}
+        {{- if .otelDefaults.exporters.prometheusRemoteWrite.enabled }}
         - prometheusremotewrite
         {{- end }}
diff --git a/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/cert-manager/certificate-requests.yaml b/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/cert-manager/certificate-requests.yaml
index 88fb490d4..3291c8abb 100644
--- a/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/cert-manager/certificate-requests.yaml
+++ b/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/cert-manager/certificate-requests.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {{- if or $.Values.cloud.selfSignedClusterIssuer.enabled (index $.Values "hedera-explorer" "certClusterIssuerType" | ne "self-signed" ) }}
-{{- if index $.Values "hedera-explorer" "enabled" | eq true }}
+{{- if index $.Values "hedera-explorer" "enabled" }}
 apiVersion: cert-manager.io/v1
 kind: Certificate
 metadata:
diff --git a/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/network-node-statefulset.yaml b/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/network-node-statefulset.yaml
index d8a07f6b5..ebbe0b6dc 100644
--- a/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/network-node-statefulset.yaml
+++ b/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/network-node-statefulset.yaml
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ spec:
       volumes:
         - name: hgcapp-storage # change me
           emptyDir: {}
-        {{- if default $defaults.sidecars.otelCollector.enabled $otelCollector.enabled | eq "true" }}
+        {{- if $otelCollector.enabled }}
         - name: otel-collector-volume
           configMap:
             name: otel-collector-cm
@@ -90,6 +90,7 @@ spec:
             mountPath: /opt/hgcapp/
         env:
           {{- include "fullstack.defaultEnvVars" . | nindent 10 }}
+      {{- if $balanceUploader.enabled }}
       # Sidecar: {{ $node.name }}-account-balance-uploader
       - name: {{ default "account-balance-uploader" $balanceUploader.nameOverride }}
         image: {{ include "fullstack.container.image" (dict "image" $balanceUploader.image "Chart" $.Chart "defaults" $defaults.sidecars.accountBalanceUploader ) }}
@@ -125,9 +126,9 @@ spec:
           - name: STREAM_SIG_EXTENSION
             value: "pb_sig"
           - name: STREAM_EXTENSION
-            value: {{ default $defaults.sidecars.accountBalanceUploader.config.compression ($balanceUploader.config).compression | eq "true" | ternary "pb.gz" "pb" | quote }}
+            value: {{ default $defaults.sidecars.accountBalanceUploader.config.compression ($balanceUploader.config).compression | ternary "pb.gz" "pb" | quote }}
           - name: SIG_EXTENSION
-            value: {{ default $defaults.sidecars.accountBalanceUploader.config.compression ($balanceUploader.config).compression | eq "true" | ternary "pb_sig.gz" "pb_sig" | quote }}
+            value: {{ default $defaults.sidecars.accountBalanceUploader.config.compression ($balanceUploader.config).compression | ternary "pb_sig.gz" "pb_sig" | quote }}
           - name: SIG_REQUIRE
             value: {{ default $defaults.sidecars.accountBalanceUploader.config.signature.require (($balanceUploader.config).signature).require | quote }}
           - name: SIG_PRIORITIZE
@@ -147,6 +148,8 @@ spec:
         resources:
           {{- toYaml . | nindent 10 }}
         {{- end }}
+      {{- end }}
+      {{- if $recordStream.enabled }}
       # Sidecar: {{ $node.name }}-record-stream-uploader
       - name: {{ default "record-stream-uploader" $recordStream.nameOverride }}
         image: {{ include "fullstack.container.image" (dict "image" $recordStream.image "Chart" $.Chart "defaults" $defaults.sidecars.recordStreamUploader) }}
@@ -184,7 +187,7 @@ spec:
           - name: STREAM_SIG_EXTENSION
             value: "rcd_sig"
           - name: STREAM_EXTENSION
-            value: {{ default $defaults.sidecars.recordStreamUploader.config.compression ($recordStream.config).compression | eq "true" | ternary "rcd.gz" "rcd" | quote }}
+            value: {{ default $defaults.sidecars.recordStreamUploader.config.compression ($recordStream.config).compression | ternary "rcd.gz" "rcd" | quote }}
           - name: SIG_EXTENSION
             value: "rcd_sig"
           - name: RECORD_STREAM_COMPRESSION
@@ -206,10 +209,12 @@ spec:
         envFrom:
           - secretRef:
               name: uploader-mirror-secrets
-      {{- with default $defaults.sidecars.recordStreamUploader.resources $recordStream.resources }}
+        {{- with default $defaults.sidecars.recordStreamUploader.resources $recordStream.resources }}
         resources:
-        {{- toYaml . | nindent 10 }}
+          {{- toYaml . | nindent 10 }}
+        {{- end }}
       {{- end }}
+      {{- if $eventStream.enabled }}
       # Sidecar: {{ $node.name }}-event-stream-uploader
       - name: {{ default "event-stream-uploader" $eventStream.nameOverride }}
         image: {{ include "fullstack.container.image" (dict "image" $eventStream.image "Chart" $.Chart "defaults" $defaults.sidecars.eventStreamUploader) }}
@@ -246,9 +251,9 @@ spec:
           - name: STREAM_SIG_EXTENSION
             value: "evts_sig"
           - name: STREAM_EXTENSION
-            value: {{ default $defaults.sidecars.eventStreamUploader.config.compression ($eventStream.config).compression | eq "true" | ternary "evts.gz" "evts" | quote }}
+            value: {{ default $defaults.sidecars.eventStreamUploader.config.compression ($eventStream.config).compression | ternary "evts.gz" "evts" | quote }}
           - name: SIG_EXTENSION
-            value: {{ default $defaults.sidecars.eventStreamUploader.config.compression ($eventStream.config).compression | eq "true" | ternary "evts_sig.gz" "evts_sig" | quote }}
+            value: {{ default $defaults.sidecars.eventStreamUploader.config.compression ($eventStream.config).compression | ternary "evts_sig.gz" "evts_sig" | quote }}
           - name: SIG_REQUIRE
             value: {{ default $defaults.sidecars.eventStreamUploader.config.signature.require (($eventStream.config).signature).require | quote }}
           - name: SIG_PRIORITIZE
@@ -268,6 +273,8 @@ spec:
         resources:
           {{- toYaml . | nindent 10 }}
         {{- end }}
+      {{- end }}
+      {{- if $backupUploader.enabled }}
       # Sidecar: {{ $node.name }}-backup-uploader
       - name: {{ default "backup-uploader" $backupUploader.nameOverride }}
         image: {{ include "fullstack.container.image" (dict "image" $backupUploader.image "Chart" $.Chart "defaults" $defaults.sidecars.backupUploader) }}
@@ -288,7 +295,8 @@ spec:
         resources:
           {{- toYaml . | nindent 10 }}
         {{- end }}
-      {{- if (default $defaults.sidecars.otelCollector.enabled $otelCollector.enabled | eq "true") }}
+      {{- end }}
+      {{- if $otelCollector.enabled }}
       # Sidecar: {{ $node.name }}-otel-collector
       - name: {{ default "otel-collector" $otelCollector.nameOverride }}
         image: {{ include "fullstack.container.image" (dict "image" $otelCollector.image "Chart" $.Chart "defaults" $defaults.sidecars.otelCollector) }}
diff --git a/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/proxy/envoy-deployment.yaml b/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/proxy/envoy-deployment.yaml
index 63f3e251c..c617d9741 100644
--- a/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/proxy/envoy-deployment.yaml
+++ b/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/proxy/envoy-deployment.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {{ range $index, $node := ($.Values.hedera.nodes) }}
-{{- $envoyProxy := $node.envoyProxy | default dict -}}
+{{- $envoyProxy := $node.envoyProxy | default $.Values.defaults.envoyProxy -}}
 {{- $defaults := $.Values.defaults.envoyProxy }}
-{{- if default $defaults.enabled $envoyProxy.enabled | eq "true" }}
+{{- if $envoyProxy.enabled }}
 ---
 apiVersion: apps/v1
 kind: Deployment
diff --git a/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/proxy/haproxy-deployment.yaml b/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/proxy/haproxy-deployment.yaml
index 9993ac8c1..31c2e0d80 100644
--- a/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/proxy/haproxy-deployment.yaml
+++ b/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/proxy/haproxy-deployment.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {{ range $index, $node := ($.Values.hedera.nodes) }}
-{{- $haproxy := $node.haproxy | default dict -}}
+{{- $haproxy := $node.haproxy | default $.Values.defaults.haproxy -}}
 {{- $defaults := $.Values.defaults.haproxy }}
-{{- if default $defaults.enabled $haproxy.enabled | eq "true" }}
+{{- if $haproxy.enabled }}
 ---
 apiVersion: apps/v1
 kind: Deployment
diff --git a/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/rbac/pod-monitor.yaml b/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/rbac/pod-monitor.yaml
index d6a2ec5e7..31c56d0c6 100644
--- a/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/rbac/pod-monitor.yaml
+++ b/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/rbac/pod-monitor.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{{- if $.Values.tester.deployPodMonitor | eq "true" }}
+{{- if $.Values.tester.deployPodMonitor }}
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: ServiceAccount
 metadata:
@@ -18,4 +18,4 @@ roleRef:
   kind: ClusterRole
   name: {{ $.Values.tester.clusterRoleName }}
   apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
-{{- end }}
\ No newline at end of file
+{{- end }}
diff --git a/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/services/envoy-svc.yaml b/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/services/envoy-svc.yaml
index 35350a449..7ed655cf4 100644
--- a/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/services/envoy-svc.yaml
+++ b/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/services/envoy-svc.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {{ range $index, $node := ($.Values.hedera.nodes) }}
-{{- $envoyProxy := $node.envoyProxy | default dict -}}
+{{- $envoyProxy := $node.envoyProxy | default $.Values.defaults.envoyProxy -}}
 {{- $defaults := $.Values.defaults.envoyProxy }}
-{{- if default $defaults.enabled $envoyProxy.enabled | eq "true" }}
+{{- if $envoyProxy.enabled }}
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Service
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ metadata:
     fullstack.hedera.com/prometheus-endpoint: active
     {{- include "fullstack.testLabels" $ | nindent 4 }}
 spec:
-  {{- if default $defaults.loadBalancerEnabled $envoyProxy.loadBalancerEnabled | eq "true" }}
+  {{- if $envoyProxy.loadBalancerEnabled }}
   type: LoadBalancer
   {{- end }}
   selector:
diff --git a/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/services/haproxy-svc.yaml b/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/services/haproxy-svc.yaml
index a12b83333..0af39fc75 100644
--- a/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/services/haproxy-svc.yaml
+++ b/charts/fullstack-deployment/templates/services/haproxy-svc.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {{- range $index, $node := ($.Values.hedera.nodes) }}
-{{- $haproxy := $node.haproxy | default dict -}}
+{{- $haproxy := $node.haproxy | default $.Values.defaults.haproxy -}}
 {{- $defaults := $.Values.defaults.haproxy }}
-{{- if default $defaults.enabled $haproxy.enabled | eq "true" }}
+{{- if $haproxy.enabled }}
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Service
diff --git a/charts/fullstack-deployment/values.yaml b/charts/fullstack-deployment/values.yaml
index a43750baa..81c02b963 100644
--- a/charts/fullstack-deployment/values.yaml
+++ b/charts/fullstack-deployment/values.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-# WARNING: Use double quotes for all values. This is because we need to be careful about booleans.
-
 global:
   namespaceOverride: ""
   ingressClassName: "hedera-explorer-ingress-class" # override for multiple deployments within the same cluster and make unique per cluster
@@ -22,14 +20,14 @@ cloud:
 telemetry:
   prometheus:
     svcMonitor:
-      enabled: "true"
+      enabled: true
 
 # reduce default termination grace period
 terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 10
 
 # helm test container
 tester:
-  deployPodMonitor: "true"
+  deployPodMonitor: true
   clusterRoleName: "pod-monitor-role" # this is a shared cluster role for all namespaces
   image:
     registry: "ghcr.io"
@@ -69,7 +67,7 @@ defaults:
       pullPolicy: "IfNotPresent"
     resources: {}
   haproxy:
-    enabled: "true"
+    enabled: true
     nameOverride: "haproxy"
     image:
       registry: "docker.io"
@@ -79,7 +77,7 @@ defaults:
     resources: {}
     serviceType: "LoadBalancer"
   envoyProxy:
-    enabled: "true"
+    enabled: true
     nameOverride: "envoy-proxy"
     image:
       registry: "docker.io"
@@ -87,10 +85,10 @@ defaults:
       tag: "v1.21.1"
       pullPolicy: "IfNotPresent"
     resources: {}
-    loadBalancerEnabled: "false"
+    loadBalancerEnabled: false
   sidecars:
     recordStreamUploader:
-      enabled: "true"
+      enabled: true
       nameOverride: "record-stream-uploader"
       image:
         registry: "gcr.io"
@@ -98,20 +96,20 @@ defaults:
         tag: "1.3.0"
         pullPolicy: "IfNotPresent"
       config:
-        debug: "true"
-        compression: "true"
-        sidecar: "true"
+        debug: true
+        compression: true
+        sidecar: true
         reaper:
-          enabled: "true"
+          enabled: true
           minKeep: 1
           interval: 1
           defaultBackoff: 1
         signature:
-          require: "true"
-          prioritize: "true"
+          require: true
+          prioritize: true
       resources: {}
     eventStreamUploader:
-      enabled: "true"
+      enabled: true
       nameOverride: "event-stream-uploader"
       image:
         registry: "gcr.io"
@@ -119,19 +117,19 @@ defaults:
         tag: "1.3.0"
         pullPolicy: "IfNotPresent"
       config:
-        debug: "true"
-        compression: "true"
+        debug: true
+        compression: true
         reaper:
-          enabled: "true"
+          enabled: true
           minKeep: 1
           interval: 1
           defaultBackoff: 1
         signature:
-          require: "true"
-          prioritize: "true"
+          require: true
+          prioritize: true
       resources: {}
     accountBalanceUploader:
-      enabled: "true"
+      enabled: true
       nameOverride: "account-balance-uploader"
       image:
         registry: gcr.io
@@ -139,19 +137,19 @@ defaults:
         tag: "1.3.0"  # Defaults to the chart's app version if empty
         pullPolicy: "IfNotPresent"
       config:
-        debug: "true"
-        compression: "true"
+        debug: true
+        compression: true
         reaper:
-          enabled: "true"
+          enabled: true
           minKeep: 1
           interval: 1
           defaultBackoff: 1
         signature:
-          require: "true"
-          prioritize: "true"
+          require: true
+          prioritize: true
       resources: {}
     backupUploader:
-      enabled: "true"
+      enabled: true
       nameOverride: "backup-uploader"
       image:
         registry: "gcr.io"
@@ -162,7 +160,7 @@ defaults:
         backupBucket: "backup"
       resources: {}
     otelCollector:
-      enabled: "true"
+      enabled: true
       nameOverride: ""
       image:
         registry: "docker.io"
@@ -183,7 +181,7 @@ defaults:
           tls:
             insecure: true
         prometheusRemoteWrite:
-          enabled: "false"
+          enabled: false
           endpoint: "" # e.g. http://prometheus.<NAMESPACE>.svc:9090/api/v1/write
           tls:
             insecure: true