Insulating Heating Ducts In Attic

Look for signs of air leaks at seams or joints such as streams of dust.

Insulating heating ducts in attic. After all most new homes have r 49 insulation on the attic floor holladay continues. 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. Other times insulation may be on the outside. When the attic is 20 f that insulation is addressing a delta t of 50 f.

Install ductwork so that it is in direct contact with i e laying on the ceiling and or truss lower cords. The existing metal ductwork in an older home may or may not have insulation. Purchase duct wrap insulation that complies with the 2009 international energy conservation code iecc standards. Sometimes the insulation is inside the ductwork.

How to insulate your central air heating ducts 1. Plan to pull up the flooring and layer new insulation on top of the old. Use metal flex or fiber board ducts that are insulated to code. Check the speed of the blower motor on the furnace.

But the air in the ducts is facing a delta t of maybe 100 f or 120 f a greater delta t. 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. Use the type of metallic foil duct tape recommended by the insulation manufacturer to seal and hold the insulation in place. The duct insulation should include a vapor barrier cover.

Because the simplest and cheapest way to insulate an attic is to add material to the floor. Don t use standard cloth duct tape on hvac ductwork since the adhesive won t hold up to extreme temperatures. When insulating hvac ductwork use a foil faced fiberglass insulation with an r 6 or higher r value. 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.

All the ducts are in the attic. Looking at the cooling side only the additional load would be. Inspect the span of ductwork to be insulated. So logically the ducts deserve more not less insulation.

R 8 duct insulation 5 227 btu hour. If necessary switch the wires to reduce the blower to its lowest. 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. 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 board much like the duct liner is also a fiberglass product. Duct liner isn t generally a diy installation and if your ducts already have liner you don t need to insulate the exterior. Press a continuous strip of foil tape to all longitudinal seams along straight runs of duct. For an added layer of protection you can apply duct mastic to the tape and duct.