If you have a heating and cooling system that utilises ducts to move temperature controlled fluids or gases around then duct insulation is an absolute must. Duct insulation is applied to the exterior of the ducts that are used to move the temperature controlled transport medium around the area that you are trying to regulate the temperature of. It reduces the amount that the environment around the ducts affects the temperature of the substance inside the duct. Obviously these variations can be significantly reduced by reducing the length of the ducts that are used. In areas where this is impractical for cost or other practical reasons then ductwork insulation is required.
Duct insulation can significantly reduce the household energy spend, which is currently running at an average of $500. It does so by reducing the amount of energy required to deliver the heated or cooled transport medium to the area where the temperature control is required.
Duct insulation is available in many forms on the market today. Fiberglass duct insulation is the most commonly used and it is available in two different forms, either rigid or flexible, and in varying densities depending on the area of application and the level of ductwork insulation required. Flexible fiberglass duct insulation is most commonly supplied in a roll and is simple to apply to any shape of duct, be it round, square, or a special preformed shape. The rigid form of round duct insulation is also very simple to apply. It comes in preformed round pieces and has a split along the length of the insulation. It is simply prised apart along the length of the split and fed onto the round duct to be insulated. The other form of rigid duct insulation is supplied in boards and is usually fitted to square cooling and heating ducts. It usually has a vinyl or foil face to prevent the ingress of water to the heating duct insulation. This stops water from saturating the duct insulation and so reducing it's effectiveness.
Duct wrap insulation is another form of duct insulation that should not be overlooked. It is usually formed from a binder that is acrylic based and it gives all of the benefits of fiberglass duct insulation without the skin irritation that the installer experiences.
When installing duct insulation it is important to ensure that you research all of the necessary facts. Make sure that you have the correct R-value (insulation resistance) and that you are making sure that you have enough insulation to prevent the substance within the duct becoming influenced, temperature wise, by the substance outside of the duct. Before installation all of the loose pipe joints should be sealed and any leaks from the ducts should be repaired. Once the ductwork insulation is installed it becomes much more difficult to rectify problems as the ducts are much less accessible than they were before the duct insulation was installed.
With the correct research, and a common sense approach to installation, there is no reason why duct insulation cannot save you money, and help to conserve global energy resources, for many years after installation.
The most commonly used duct insulation is Fiberglass and it is available in two different forms, either rigid or flexible