How To Insulate Heating 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.

How to insulate heating ducts in attic.

That s what happened to the ducts in the lead photo of this article. 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. Don t use standard cloth duct tape on hvac ductwork since the adhesive won t hold up to extreme temperatures. How to insulate the attic air sealing the attic energy saving attic insulation duration.

Check the speed of the blower motor on the furnace. Use a paintbrush to apply duct mastic to the joints where an elbow connects to a duct. Install loose fill insulation to cover the ducts and the attic floor to meet or exceed the code required r value for attic insulation. Come in pre measured lengths.

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. Inspect the span of ductwork to be insulated. When insulating hvac ductwork use a foil faced fiberglass insulation with an r 6 or higher r value. For an added layer of protection you can apply duct mastic to the tape and duct.

She asked me to go into the attic to find the roof leaks or where the snow is blowing in through the soffits. In the end it s probably best to buy the blanket insulation. Measure each run of exposed duct in an attic basement or under a subfloor. Obtain foil face fiberglass insulation based on the sizes.

Purchase duct wrap insulation that complies with the 2009 international energy conservation code iecc standards. 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. Look for signs of air leaks at seams or joints such as streams of dust. This isn t equivalent to bringing them into the conditioned space as you ll still have additional duct load but it s a lot better than having them in unconditioned attic space.

How to insulate your central air heating ducts 1. Press a continuous strip of foil tape to all longitudinal seams along straight runs of duct. Use the type of metallic foil duct tape recommended by the insulation manufacturer to seal and hold the insulation in place. Bury the ducts deeply in insulation.

The rigid insulation was saturated from condensation. Energy saver dealers 204 202 views. They may have an adhesive strip to make the installation a little easier.