Ductwork Insulation R Value

No insulation up to an r 4 value will work if you have any ducts in an uninsulated or unfinished basement.

Ductwork insulation r value.

Higher compression levels do the opposite of higher r values. Typically r 4 to r 8 is appropriate for the ducts within the insulated part of your home. The united states department of energy defines thermal resistance also known as r value as the insulating material s resistance to conductive heat flow put more simply the r value measures the effectiveness of the insulation material. Return ducts ductwork that brings expended air back to the hvac system to be filtered reconditioned and redistributed require insulation with an r value of 3 5 for exterior ducts and ducts in a ventilated attic or unvented attic above an insulated ceiling.

Looking at the cooling load only the additional load would be. A material with a higher r value is a better insulator. Thermal resistance r value definition. One ton of air conditioning equals 12 000 btu hr so this would be almost half a ton 0 44 of cooling load.

There are no r value requirements for ductwork installed in other locations. Because it never gets very cold in florida you don t need duct insulation with as high an r value as you would if you lived up north.