Condensation on just 1 duct in unfinished basement

Question

We live in the Northeast (PA) and have a new construction home that we have lived in for a year. The home is small (1300 sq ft, open concept first floor) with an unfinished basement. The ceiling of the basement was insulated with this super thick pink insulation w/paper backing (paper is marked R30), paper side up. We have a heat pump and central ac and keep the thermostat at 68 in winter and 71 in the summer. I keep a dehumidifier running in all seasons except winter. The basement is dry. All rooms on the first and second floor seem to heat and cool evenly.

At the end of July I noticed we kept having wet spots all over the floor along the front wall of our basement. I kept an eye on them for about two weeks, until I notice wetness on a piece of furniture that we have stored down there. I reached up and touched the insulation and water poured down through it. I pulled the entire batting of insulation down and see the duct was wet and dripping all the way across. This duct is the supply that goes up into our second floor (through outer walls) in the front 2 bedrooms (floor registers).

We pulled the insulation down that covered every other duct in the basement and all of the others were completely dry. I had the original HVAC installer come and he says his work is perfect and we MUST have a water leak (we have pex and our lines aren't anywhere near this area). I changed the dehumidifier setting to 40%, bumped the temp up to 72, and changed the filter (which was reasonably dirty but not the worst I have seen). I have kept an eye on it for several weeks now and the condensation is all but gone except for a few drips only on the elbows that bend up and go up through the wall (both sides, although one side is worse than the other).

Any theories, ideas, and suggestions/things to look for are appreciated so we know where to start. Checking the vapor barrier in our living room was the main idea that I was given but i'd like to avoid cutting holes in the walls if I could... We were also told to wrap the ducts but i'm not sure that's all it needs. In the next year or two we do want to finish our basement.

Answer 1

If the ducts do not have sealed air spaces at top and bottom when the ducts get cold the air around it becomes cold. Cold air is denser and heavier so it drops, pulling in fresh humid air from the attic or other airspace. As the air cools with the moisture condensing on the duct and it starts all over again.

Sealing the areas the ductwork goes up the walls at both ends is important and may be the root cause .

Your HVAC guy is a hack no one is perfect but they all say that. You just need to isolate any air flow and this is a common issue with multi story homes. The insulation is usually installed after the ductwork and sheetrock so they may not have sealed the chase but your hvac guy should have known this and told you to make sure the verticals shafts were sealed.

Answer 2

If the duct goes up through outer walls, how much (if any) insulation is around the duct in the wall spaces?

Sounds like cold conditioned air duct meeting warm wet outside air and causing condensation on the outside of the duct, because the duct is buried in a wall and that probably leaves very little, if any, space for insulation around the duct. That condensate drains down the outside of the duct via gravity.

Answer 3

I solved a similar problem with a vent line going thru an interior wall to an unconditioned space. I tore down and removed all the old pink insulation. cleaned up everything, dried off the duct. I cleared around both ends of the duct work (within in unconditioned space) and well insulated any air gaps around it's entry thru the wall of the floor. An then used the foil bubble wrap insulation to completed wrap the entire length of the duct. I taped it all down with foil tape. I can say I made it all the way thru July and August and haven't seen any more water. I also don't feel any building in-between my insulation and the duct. So until I learn different I solved it.

I feel like I have properly seal off humid air from coming into contact with the metal duct. This is preventing condensation from forming. It sounds like the poster most likely wont have to worry about the duct as it runs up and most likely thru interior walls. My guess is all the water is coming from a humid unconditioned basement and once he properly seals it from coming in contact with the air then you won't have a problem.

Also since you are storing furniture in your basement I would highly recommend a dehumidifier in your basement. This will help keep the moisture levels lower and you should have less risk of mold or mildew.

Answer 4

Just wanted to update everyone. The duct ran up the wall in our living room and was easily accessible so we ended up cutting the entire wall open. Our house was built with 2x6 and they used Knauf Ecobatt kraft faced insulation (R-30 as previously mentioned). There was indeed insulation behind the duct, but it didn't fill the entire stud space because the measurements were slightly off and the studs weren't 16" apart. There was open space on both sides of the bat and we could definitely feel lots of moving air. We stuffed the entire cavity full of insulation and sealed it back up. So fingers crossed this handles it!