Insulate Heat Ducts In Attic

How to insulate your central air heating ducts 1.

Insulate heat ducts in attic. I found instead a vintage 3 ton ac unit with 1 rigid insulation taped all over it and insulated flex duct snaking all over the poorly insulated attic. Use the type of metallic foil duct tape recommended by the insulation manufacturer to seal and hold the insulation in place. 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. Purchase duct wrap insulation that complies with the 2009 international energy conservation code iecc standards.

Make sure the foil surface of the insulation is free of dust before applying the tape. R 8 duct insulation 5 227 btu hour. When insulating hvac ductwork use a foil faced fiberglass insulation with an r 6 or higher r value. The shiny vapor barrier will protect the ductwork from sweating as long as it s exposed to the surrounding air.

Today s flexible ductwork is covered with a shiny metallic cover this is its vapor barrier. Looking at the cooling side only the additional load would be. The rigid insulation was saturated from condensation. 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.

Because the simplest and cheapest way to insulate an attic is to add material to the floor. Press a continuous strip of foil tape to all longitudinal seams along straight runs of duct. Hvac ductwork is typically visible in your attic especially flexible ductwork. If necessary switch the wires to reduce the blower to its lowest.

She asked me to go into the attic to find the roof leaks or where the snow is blowing in through the soffits. Plan to pull up the flooring and layer new insulation on top of the old. Check the speed of the blower motor on the furnace. Install ductwork so that it is in direct contact with i e laying on the ceiling and or truss lower cords.

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. All the ducts are in the attic. 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. Look for signs of air leaks at seams or joints such as streams of dust.

Use a paintbrush to apply duct mastic to the joints where an elbow. To install sleeves you must either disassemble the ductwork and slide it on before reassembling the ducts or as many homeowners find themselves doing slit it and wrap it around like the blanket style material.