How to Install Insulation Wraps on Furnace Pipes

A furnace heats your home by carrying air heated in the furnace through the house in a series of ducts. The ducts can emit heat as the air travels through them, which forces the furnace to work for longer periods of time and use more energy to heat your home. While this isn't a big issue within insulated walls, bare ducts in unfinished areas like basements and attics can lose between 10 and 30 percent of their energy, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Insulating the heat ducts as they leave the furnace can make your furnace operate more efficiently.

Aluminum duct tape
Tape measure
Foil-backed fiberglass insulation with at least an R-5 rating
Utility knife
Gloves
Safety goggles
Mask
Steel wire

Instructions

- 1
  Place aluminum duct tape over the joints between different sections of the heating duct as well as on any cracks in the ducts. The heating duct is the duct that exits the top of the furnace, and the return duct comes down from the ceiling and enters the duct near the floor.
- 2
  Measure the circumference of the ducts and add 2 inches to the measurement.
- 3
  Cut strips of foil-backed fiberglass insulation to fit the circumference of the duct as determined in Step 2. Use insulation that has a rating of at least R-5.
- 4
  Remove the duct hangers that hold the ducts in place in the section where you're installing the insulation.
- 5
  Wrap the insulation around the duct, using the extra 2 inches you added to the circumference for an overlap. Tape the ends of the duct together with aluminum duct tape.
- 6
  Wrap steel wire around the insulation to provide extra support for the aluminum duct tape. Reinstall the duct hangers.
- 7
  Repeat this process to insulate the bare ducts in the basement, attic and any other unfinished room. Seal the joints between adjacent pieces of insulation with aluminum duct tape.

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