Batt Insulation Above Suspended Ceilings

The national electrical code prohibits installation of any insulation over or within 3 76 mm of recessed light fixtures unless approved insulated ceiling ic lighting fixtures are used.

Batt insulation above suspended ceilings. This standard is used solely to measure and describe properties of products in response to heat and flame under controlled laboratory conditions and should not be used to describe or approve the fire hazard of materials under actual fire conditions. For the best results use batts that have paper facing. When batt insulation is installed above suspended ceilings the installations should conform to the fire safety requirements of the prevailing building code. Sit the insulation flush against the hanger wires so that there won t be any air space between neighboring strips of batting.

In many commercial jobs however code officials approve insulation applications that do not conform to the prevailing building code. Dropped ceiling grids are typically 2 foot by 2 foot or 2 foot by 4 foot so they accommodate standard 24 inch fiberglass insulation batts. Also improves ceiling stc acoustical performance by 4 10 points. Sonobatts and thermal batts may be used above suspended ceilings but not in areas with high inside relative humidities.

The batt insulation should be unfaced and can be of various thicknesses varying on the stc required. Begin working the strip of batt insulation above the ceiling grid and into the row you are working on keeping the backing faced down. These leak like crazy too and of course after a few years some insulation falls down poor stapling or gets disturbed by some tradesman or another and the problem gets worse. Batt insulation above suspended ceilings have been used for years for sound control and is being used a little less in todays economy due to the improved stc ratings of drop in tiles that are available.

Add the batt insulation. Acoustical ceiling batts are available unfaced and kraft faced without stapling tabs for installation on suspended ceilings. It is available in thicknesses to 12 inches and r values up to r 38. The space above suspended ceilings should not be vented to the outside.