Insulation Around Attic Furnace

This puts the furnace in at least semi conditioned space.

Insulation around attic furnace.

Loose fill or batt the common term for blanket insulation. Most of the issues that furnace might experience in an attic are due to extremely cold weather in this poorly insulated space. The b vent system requires air space clearance as well as clearance from combustibles. Once you ve decided which type is best for you examine the material options and prices to home in on the right product.

If the furnace is a fuel burning one be sure you provide air for combustion. Or you may even consider converting your attic to a finished conditioned space that will open up some room in your home too. You can build a small enclosure around the furnace with rigid foam insulation then pick up the insulation on the ceiling inside the enclosure. Most often the attic is sealed by installing spray foam insulation at the roofline thus bringing the attic inside the building enclosure and turning it into conditioned space directly or indirectly.

In either cse it fills the required open air space around the b vent in the un conditioned attic space. If you re really concerned you can also build a small insulated room around your unit to prevent heating and cooling loss. A furnace can suffer from a drop in energy efficiency if it s in an unconditioned space such as an attic. Spun fiberglass insulation is like a sponge as far as its ability to collect and hold significant volume of water.

Heating cooling a while back i wrote about the incompatibility of putting an atmospheric combustion furnace in a sealed attic. Fiberglass insulation cannot just butt up to the vent pipe touching it. Insulating around a furnace exhaust pipe now that you have safely sealed the air leaks around the furnace exhaust you can work on insulating your attic space. Both can be added to uninsulated attics or layered over existing material.

You need insulation even around your ducts no matter where you live. Insulation isn t only about keeping heat in. Although fiberglass may not burn it can melt contribute to a fire and the speed at which it spreads. High efficiency furnaces aren t usually recommended for an attic.

Wrap the flashing around the flue and staple it to the flashing inside the ceiling joists through the notches on the bottom edge. In the average home around 20 to 30 of the heated or cooled air flowing through the ducts is lost to leaks and uninsulated surfaces according to the department of energy.