Insulation Between Ac Ducts In The Attic

1 the air handler must be inside conditioned space.

Insulation between ac ducts in the attic.

The remaining 2 tons of capacity is at least 1 5x oversized for the actual 1 load. In last week s blog i discussed the practice of burying attic ducts in deep insulation since burying ducts is simply one of several ways to address the energy waste associated with the decision to locate ducts in a vented unconditioned attic it s worth taking a fresh look at all of the possible solutions to the attic duct problem. The condenser in your air conditioner works hard to get rid of heat and pressurize refrigerant for the return trip through your house. And 3 the sum of the ceiling insulation above the duct and the duct insulation must equal the prescriptive r value for ceiling insulation.

Most updated central air conditioned homes have a new air conditioner split system meaning the ac is broken up into parts. Table 1 shows effective r values for 8 inch round ducts at three attic insulation levels and three duct insulation levels r 4 2 r 6 and r 8. Sometimes the insulation is inside the ductwork. Well mainly it s a way to save space.

So more would help. Why is condensation on ductwork a problem. Attic hvac systems save space. The second question gets a yes if the buried ducts meet even more stringent requirements.

2 duct leakage must be no higher than 1 5 cfm25 per 100 square feet of conditioned floor area. The duct work is insulated to keep the condensate from forming on the outside of the pipes and dripping off from the temperature differences in the attic in the summertime with ac running. Flexible ductwork comes with different insulation r values. 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.

So water is condensing on your ac ducts. So why put an hvac system up in the attic at all. The effective r value of a buried duct installation depends on the size of the ducts the r value of the duct insulation and the depth of the loose fill insulation. Why is this a problem.

Put it in an attic full of blown insulation and you re. Other times insulation may be on the outside. But our erv ducts stand alone system not tied in w heat pump and 2 jumper ducts for pressure balancing from bedrooms are suspended above the insulation in our vented attic. First water dripping off of your ducts and onto your insulation can cause the insulation to compress which decreases it s r value or ability to insulate.

When water condenses and drips into your attic or home it can cause a some serious secondary problems. An outdoor unit which houses the fan condenser and compressor and an indoor unit which holds the evaporator and fan.