Batt Insulation Above Suspended Ceilings

When batt insulation is installed above suspended ceilings the installations should conform to the fire safety requirements of the prevailing building code.

Batt insulation above suspended ceilings.

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. 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. 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. 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.

Sonobatts and thermal batts may be used above suspended ceilings but not in areas with high inside relative humidities. 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. In many commercial jobs however code officials approve insulation applications that do not conform to the prevailing building code. Begin working the strip of batt insulation above the ceiling grid and into the row you are working on keeping the backing faced down.

It is available in thicknesses to 12 inches and r values up to r 38. Acoustical ceiling batts are available unfaced and kraft faced without stapling tabs for installation on suspended ceilings. The surface burning characteristics of ecotouch insulation were derived from products tested in accordance with astm e84. The space above suspended ceilings should not be vented to the outside.

Also improves ceiling stc acoustical performance by 4 10 points. Sonobatts insulation is designed for use over ceiling panels in a suspended ceiling system. For the best results use batts that have paper facing. The batt insulation should be unfaced and can be of various thicknesses varying on the stc required.