Why You Should Heat Proof Your Roof
As one of Queensland’s leading roof companies, we know why you should heat proof your roof, but not many of our customers understand the benefits. In this article we explain the many benefits of heat proofing your roof, especially if you live in a warmer climate.
Did you know that your roof is the best defence again the outside climates! ‘A low-efficient, poorly insulated roof can let in too much heat in the summer, leaving you with huge air conditioning bills.’
Taking the steps now to make your roof more energy efficient can save you a lot on energy bills in the long run, which is important with the ever-increasing cost of energy.
So, what can you do as a homeowner to make your roof more efficient
The first, and best defense available to you is a roof coating with a high solar reflectance. Brisbane Roofing Solutions chooses to use and recommend Globalcote Infracote Heat Reflective Coating as it’s heat reflective coating of choice. It works by targeting the invisible infrared portion of the sun’s radiation which means coated surfaces stay cooler and last longer than a coating that absorbs it.
Lighter roof colours reflect heat better than darker roof colours
Now, not all colours reflect heat in the same way. Lighter colours tend to reflect heat better than darker colours, whether you’re using heat reflective coatings or not. So, how can you tell how much benefit you will get out of choosing a heat reflective coating? An effective method to measure a coatings reflective capability is to measure its Total Solar Reflectance (TSR). The higher the percentage, the more effective the roof coating is at reflecting the sun’s radiation. As you can see in the table, each colour has varying levels of solar reflectance, with the lightest colours having the greatest reflectance.
Heat Reflective Coatings May Lead To Less Maintenance
Heat-reflective coatings may also lead to less maintenance down the track as the usual wear and tear caused by sun’s radiation over time is reduced. Meaning that the life of the roof may be prolonged, reducing the need for replacement in the future (and creating less waste).
However, if you do decide to go with a heat-reflective coating for your roof restoration, then we do recommend regular cleaning of your roof. This is because maintaining solar reflectance is directly related to the surface remains clean. Therefore, in order to get the most benefit out of your heat-reflective coating, it is essential to keep the surface as clean as possible.
NYC Cool Roofs Initiative
Not only can heat reflective coatings help keep your home cooler and reduce energy bills, but it could be contributing to reducing heat at a larger scale. In the US particularly, we are seeing a large push towards light coloured heat reflective coatings. This is because of the ‘Urban Heat Island’ effect where we are seeing temperatures in cities rising higher than that of surround rural areas. There is one initiative in place in NYC called ‘NYC Cool Roofs’, in which they have coated more than 5 million square feet of rooftops in white heat reflective coating s throughout the city since 2009. They expect this initiative to save $135 million per year in electrical bills by 2035. (Read more at EESI)
Heat Proof Your Roof
As you can see, heat reflective coatings can not only provide benefits on a person level to you by cooling your home, reducing energy bills & prolonging the life of your roof but may also contribute on a larger scale to reducing the ‘Urban Heat Island’ effect. Is heat proofing your roof worth it? Absolutely!
