Why use flexible air ducts?
You may wonder why it is important to have insulated flex ducts in your home. Or, does this type of duct make a difference vs. standard ducting? The ducts listed in this section are UL181 listed, have an R-Value of 6 and come with a 10 year warranty. Why insulated duct? The insulation in the ducting will prevent condensation from forming on the duct. Condensation forming on the duct is not a good thing. Another benefit of the insulated flexible ducting is that it further reduces any “air noise” caused by the exhaust fan, so your ventilation system works even quieter.
Benefits of r-6
- It helps in your loss or gain of any heat in the ducts. In other words it helps in the utility consumption & your comfort. That is what you pay for in the unit's operation cost and the unit's capacity.
- For air conditioning it prevents the condensation or sweating than can occur from those ducts.
If leaks occur then loss of efficiency & / or sweating can happen. Also when wrap insulation is pulled too tight it to loses it's R value (it's insulating value). The higher R value the better is your insulation but a cost effective factor comes into play. It really isn't cost effective to increase to the extremes.
Usually insulation for ducts is R4 or R6 with the more common R6 being used in the insulation value. A formula used in insulation is: The actual attic air temperature minus the inside duct air temperature & then divide that result by 15. Ex: 125 degree in attic less 60 degree air inside ac duct = 65degrees then divide by 15 = R 4.3