Ventilation System: Duct Insulation

[musiclaw]

When installing heat/ac metal ducts prior to finishing a basement with sheet rock walls and ceilings, is it standard industry practice to insulate the metal ducts?

[Don@HT]

Greetings,

Thanks for visiting HomeTips. All ducts that supply heated or cooled air to the rooms will do a better job of retaining energy if they are insulated--but, in many cases, it may be over-kill to wrap the ductwork with insulation if the ducts are already surrounded with insulation that's fitted in the hollows between studs or joists. It's not necessary to insulate the ductwork that returns room air to the furnace/air handler.

--Don V

[musiclaw]

What about condensation, I uderstand that ducts not wrapped can result in moister on the sheet rock from condensation and further in a damp room like a basement could result in toxic mold growth.

[Ryan_Hudson]

Originally Posted by musiclaw

What about condensation, I uderstand that ducts not wrapped can result in moister on the sheet rock from condensation and further in a damp room like a basement could result in toxic mold growth.

Thanks... it really helped.