Insulate Heating Ducts In Attic
For an added layer of protection you can apply duct mastic to the tape and duct.
Insulate heating ducts in attic. R 8 duct insulation 5 227 btu hour. Check the speed of the blower motor on the furnace. The duct insulation should include a vapor barrier cover. All the ducts are in the attic.
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. Insulation typically works by preventing conductive heat flow and r value measures how effective it is at this. Press a continuous strip of foil tape to all longitudinal seams along straight runs of duct. But if the floor is covered in plywood you can t stuff enough insulation beneath it to do the job sufficiently not even in warm climates.
Duct board much like the duct liner is also a fiberglass product. Let s look for constantly improving methods through sharing. Use metal flex or fiber board ducts that are insulated to code. Plan to pull up the flooring and layer new insulation on top of the old.
Duct liner isn t generally a diy installation and if your ducts already have liner you don t need to insulate the exterior. When insulating hvac ductwork use a foil faced fiberglass insulation with an r 6 or higher r value. Because the simplest and cheapest way to insulate an attic is to add material to the floor. The r actually stands for resistance of heat flow that is.
Putting a furnace in an attic is not ideal but will happen. Sometimes metal ducts are lined with duct liner a 1 inch thick fiberglass board that insulates the interior of the duct rather than the exterior. Don t use standard cloth duct tape on hvac ductwork since the adhesive won t hold up to extreme temperatures. Sometimes the insulation is inside the ductwork.
Install ductwork so that it is in direct contact with i e laying on the ceiling and or truss lower cords. In this video this old house plumbing and heating expert richard trethewey helps a homeowner insulate his ductwork. Use the type of metallic foil duct tape recommended by the insulation manufacturer to seal and hold the insulation in place. 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.
The existing metal ductwork in an older home may or may not have insulation. R value is a rating system used for insulation that measures its degree of insulating power. What is an attic insulation s r value. Because the moving air is in the ductwork for only a short period of time it does not need the insulation r value the attic floor requires.
If necessary switch the wires to reduce the blower to its lowest speed. Hvac ducts should be buried under insulation hard covered too.