Insulating Basement Ducts

2 May 2018
 Categories: Home & Garden, Blog

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Air ducts in your basement can represent a significant problem for many homeowners. The basement usually doesn't receive as much heat as the rest of the house. It is also naturally colder since it is below ground level. But, some people also close their basement vents because they don't need that level to be as warm as the rest of the house. If nobody lives in the basement rooms, you obviously want most of your heat diverted to the main levels of your home.

Dealing With Cold Ducts

This can increase your airflow, but it might also be reducing the efficiency of your furnace. That is, heated air traveling through the ducts in your basement can be significantly cooled off due to the temperatures down there. If you walk down in your basement on a cold day and touch the metal ducts, you will notice how cold they are on the outside. So, what do you do about this problem? Opening your basement vents will increase the airflow down there, but it could reduce your airflow upstairs, so it probably isn't going to really solve your problem.

Insulating Basement Ducts

The best solutions is to leave your vents closed and add insulation to your air ducts. This will significantly slow down the rate of heat lost, so the air traveling through basement ducts maintains the right temperature by the time that it reaches the vents.

This is a very easy project that doesn't require any tools. The end result might not exactly be very pretty. That is, wrapping fiberglass around your metal ducts isn't going to make them look very good. But, it is all about the functionality and efficiency of your HVAC system. By simply wrapping fiberglass over your ducts (whether they are square or circular), you can basically put a layer of protection and warmth over them. The job is easy because you can by large continuous rolls of fiberglass batting. You can simply tape the fiberglass around the ducts. You can also staple it to the wooden ceiling joists if that works better. Basically, no matter how your wrap your ducts in fiberglass insulation, it will help to retain heat.

Residential heating is obviously one of your biggest utility expenses during the winter, so making the small investment and taking a little bit of time to insulate your air ducts is a good way to save money during the colder months. Contact a company, like All Weather Shield Inc, for more help.