Is Painting Duct Wrap to Match the Ceiling a Thing of the Past?

It’s commonly known that fiberglass duct wrap insulation comes standard with an FSK aluminum foil jacket. In fact, over 95% of commercial installations using duct wrap have an FSK jacket. As building design trends shift toward leaving ceilings exposed, this has created an aesthetics problem: not all architects or building owners want shiny silver spanning the space overhead in an exposed, externally wrapped duct system. So, their solution has been to paint the duct wrap.

More often than not, when the plans call for an exposed look without a ceiling grid, they also call for the ceilings and joists to be painted black.  To maintain a consistent aesthetic, the plans often also call for the insulated ductwork to be painted black to match. Typically, the ductwork and HVAC insulation are painted at the same time as the ceiling and joists.

However, there is one big question people tend to overlook in this practice: should you even be painting duct wrap insulation?

Painting Duct Wrap Insulation:

While painting over the silver-colored jacket of the duct wrap insulation is common, it’s also costly and messy. Worst of all, it voids the warranty from nearly every fiberglass manufacturer because it impacts the flame and smoke retardant qualities met by the manufacturer during ASTM E84 testing. Moreover, there is no guarantee that painted or coated duct insulation still meets building code requirements.

Such a scenario leaves the painting contractor or GC liable for any warranty violation as long as the HVAC contractor installed exactly what the job specifications and engineer called for. Historically, since there hasn’t been an alternative to painting the duct wrap insulation, the industry has simply accepted it as a “necessary evil.”

The Colorful Future for HVAC Duct Wrap Insulation

However, this is no longer the case, and it’s long past the time we, as an industry, stopped painting external HVAC insulation. As more buildings are forgoing the drop ceiling grid in favor of a more exposed look, the aesthetics of the ductwork – and thus the insulation wrapped around it- have risen in importance. Which is why Johns Manville introduced Microlite® Black PSK Duct Wrap (and followed that shortly after with Microlite® White PSK Duct Wrap) to provide a solution for the industry looking for an alternative to painting their HVAC insulation.

Microlite Black PSK Duct Wrap and Microlite White PSK Duct Wrap products are jacketed with a black or white PSK jacket that sacrifices none of the product’s vapor barrier and flame-retardant qualities. It provides the desired aesthetics without diminishing any performance, voiding any warranties, or creating extra work for the contractors. JM also offers matching PSK tapes to ensure that all seams and edges can be properly sealed without losing the desired aesthetics.

As the building industry trends toward modern solutions that use less material and incorporate more of the building’s structure as design elements (ductwork, concrete, brick, etc.), new solutions like JM’s Microlite PSK duct wraps are going to be critical components to evolving the tools the industry has to deliver quality work under ever-changing design requirements.

Contact us to learn more about Microlite Black Duct Wrap

About Microlite Black and Microlite White PSK Duct Wrap Insulation

R-value: R4.2 – R 8.3
Binder: Formaldehyde Free
GREENGUARD Gold Certified
Recycled Content: 24%

Available Sizes:

1″ thick X 48″ wide X 100″ roll
2-1/5″ thick X 48″ wide X 75′ roll
3″ thick X 48″ wide X 50′ roll