Not a fan of internally insulated ducts for the reasons you state. Is the insulation inside the duct covered in a plastic vapor seal or is it unsealed?

Duct cleaning is a bit of a scam. Personally, I wouldn't have my ducts cleaned. Just be diligent changing your filters so the ducts don't get dirty in the first place.

You will get the best flow if ducts are smooth inside, which is why I prefer metal ducts with insulation around the outside.

Are these ducts going into a space that requires them to be insulated (often needed in an attic)? I assume that standard practice in a cold climate would be to install ducts in the basement, which would be conditioned space. You don't need to insulate ducts installed in conditioned space, unless you are just trying to dampen noise transmission.

Bruce

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Thanks for the comments. We have two systems, and this is the upstairs one on bedroom level. In discussing further the lined ducts were used for certain portions off the upstairs system to mitigate noise concerns and will not be used in the majority of the house. There seem to be good filters in place for both upstairs and downstairs, and we have the option of adding on HEPA filtration to the basement system (need to look into cost). One question that I still have is filtration on HRV - any insights would be appreciated.