Lot's of people disregard roof colors when shopping for a new home or apartment, but it can make a real difference in your costs for heating and cooling. In most stores and areas, different colors of shingles and roofing metal are virtually the same in price, but they have remarkably different thermal and reflective properties.
Light colored roofs offer reflective capacity, which helps to send solar energy back up into the atmosphere (possibly space) instead of absorbing it and turning it into heat.
Darker colored roofs, conversely, absorb more solar radiation and convert it to heat. In cooler climates, this can be a boon, and can even be used to augment home heating systems by heating water or other materials for use in the home, but in warmer climates this is usually undesireable.
Wouldn't it be nice if your house was 10 degrees cooler in the summer, or 10 degrees warmer in the winter, for no additional cost? Just remember that your roofing has an impact on your bills, and could save you $40 dollars or more in utilities. Even better, your utility provider might offer a rebate for solar efficient roofing!
No comments:
Post a Comment