Where Roofing And Air Conditioning Intersect
Air conditioning can be a high cost, and in order to free up money in your summer budget to do the things that you really want to do, you need to make sure you take every step available to improve the energy efficiency of your home. In particular, you want to take steps to prevent heat from entering your home in the first place. While the sun's UV rays can stream into your home through your windows, they can also heat up your roof and thus your home.
How Problem Roofing Drives up the Temperature in Your Home
While the insulation in your attic is meant to isolate the interior of your home from the outside world, some heat can still leak into your home. If you have dark, asphalt-shingle roofing, the shingles will act as heat sponges as they soak up the sun's UV rays and convert them to heat. Shingles can heat up to temperatures of over 150 degrees. While not all of this heat will leak into your home, some of it will, and as the heat in your home rises, the more your AC unit has to run to cool it back down.
How Metal Roofing Can Save You Money on Cooling Costs
Metal is a naturally reflective material, which means that it will reflect a lot of the sun's energy before it has a chance to heat up your home. Still, metal will soak up some of the sun's rays, and start to heat up. If your roofing holds on to the heat, it will warm the decking below it, and the decking will allow heat to leak into your home. Thus, you need to look for metal roofing that has been treated with an emissive coating. Emissivity has to do with a material's ability to release what heat it absorbs. Metal roofing that has been treated with an emissive coating can help to reduce your cooling costs by up to 40%.
Replacing your roofing is a big cost, and if the roofing you have on your home is in good shape, you should not feel like you have to run out and replace your roofing immediately. On the other hand, if your roofing is nearing the end of its life, you should start saving up money so that you can remove your old shingles and install metal roofing. Every step you take to decrease heat gain will help you to save money on your cooling costs and have money to do more of what you love during the summer.
For more information, contact Jerry Boschert Heating & Cooling or a similar company.
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