Insulating Hvac Ducts In Attic

This of course is a good thing.

Insulating hvac ducts in attic.

No building inspector worth his or her salt is going to let any builder or hvac contractor get away with installing ducts that aren t insulated. R 8 duct insulation 5 227 btu hour. Repeat to insulate the remaining ducts. Make sure the foil surface of the insulation is free of dust before applying the tape.

Duct board much like the duct liner is also a fiberglass product. Insulating hvac ductwork when insulating hvac ductwork use a foil faced fiberglass insulation with an r 6 or higher r value. Use the type of metallic foil duct tape recommended by the insulation manufacturer to seal and hold the insulation in place. Use metal flex or fiber board ducts that are insulated to code.

Install ductwork so that it is in direct contact with i e laying on the ceiling and or truss lower cords. Duct insulation keeps air that s supposed to be cool cool and air that s supposed to be warm warm. Purchase duct wrap insulation that complies with the 2009 international energy conservation code iecc standards that specify an r value of 8. Put it in an attic full of blown insulation and you re forcing it to work harder to vent its heat.

If your ducts aren t insulated you re probably paying way more than you should to cool and heat your home. When these ducts are exposed to exterior air the plastic jacket never gets cold enough to permit condensation because the hot attic air keeps the plastic jacket warm. How to insulate your central air heating ducts. All the ducts are in the attic.

Apply a long strip of foil tape along the seam in the insulation. Inspect the span of ductwork to be insulated. Secure the insulation with short strips of foil tape. Look for signs of air leaks at seams or joints such.

When hvac ducts are installed in a vented attic in a dry climate bury the ducts in attic insulation to protect them from temperature extremes in the unconditioned attic space. Duct liner isn t generally a diy installation and if your ducts already have liner you don t need to insulate the exterior. In addition to making the unit hard to get to for service high attic heat can trigger the. Made from 1 to 2 inch thick sheets of rigid glass fiber and coated with an aluminum laminate for a moisture air barrier duct board comes in sections that fit together like metal ducts.

To install preformed duct insulation start by disconnecting an elbow to expose the end of the duct. So logically the ducts deserve more not less insulation. According to rightsuite the software we use the supply ducts have about 560 square feet of surface area and the return ducts 101 square feet. But the air in the ducts is facing a delta t of maybe 100 f or 120 f a greater delta t.

Insulated ducts have been the standard for decades now. Obviously it s hard to install r 60 duct insulation. The duct insulation should include a vapor barrier cover. Most attic ducts are insulated flex ducts that is flex ducts with r 6 or r 8 fiberglass insulation along with an exterior polyethylene jacket.