Insulate Heat Ducts In Attic

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.

Insulate heat ducts in attic.

How to insulate your central air heating ducts 1. 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. 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. If necessary switch the wires to reduce the blower to its lowest.

R 8 duct insulation 5 227 btu hour. Make sure the foil surface of the insulation is free of dust before applying the tape. 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. 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.

Check the speed of the blower motor on the furnace. 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. To insulate the exterior you have a choice between sleeve style insulation and blanket wraps which literally wrap around the ductwork. Purchase duct wrap insulation that complies with the 2009 international energy conservation code iecc standards.

The rigid insulation was saturated from condensation. Plan to pull up the flooring and layer new insulation on top of the old. The shiny vapor barrier will protect the ductwork from sweating as long as it s exposed to the surrounding air. Looking at the cooling side only the additional load would be.

When insulating hvac ductwork use a foil faced fiberglass insulation with an r 6 or higher r value. Look for signs of air leaks at seams or joints such as streams of dust. All the ducts are in the attic. Press a continuous strip of foil tape to all longitudinal seams along straight runs of duct.

She asked me to go into the attic to find the roof leaks or where the snow is blowing in through the soffits. Use a paintbrush to apply duct mastic to the joints where an elbow. 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.

Because the simplest and cheapest way to insulate an attic is to add material to the floor. Today s flexible ductwork is covered with a shiny metallic cover this is its vapor barrier.