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Have the soaring electric bills and the additional energy usage been bothering you? Are you looking for an effective solution for it, one that does not harm the environment?
Enter energy-efficient roofing.
With the cost of energy burgeoning every year, getting an energy-efficient roof can be one of the best moves in trimming your electric bills. What’s more? Improving the energy efficiency of your roof isn’t a pricey affair. Certain changes and improvements in your roof can help deliver a huge difference. They can help make your home more comfortable to live in.
Wondering how you can go about building an energy-efficient roof?
Here are a few tips that can help you with it.
1. Go for a ‘Cool’ Roof
A cool roof implies a roof that is super energy-efficient owing to its color and material.
A dark roof conducts absorbed heat, making the home hotter and forcing the air conditioning to work harder. This results in a less comfortable home and a huge energy bill. A light-colored roof, on the other hand, can help deflect heat and light away instead. For instance, a light-colored metal roof can be 50-60 degrees cooler than a conventional dark-colored asphalt shingles roof. This can ultimately aid the process of saving energy and reducing utility costs.
If you want a cool roof, have the necessary coating applied on your existing roof. This is a simple method that doesn’t require a lot of money. However, if you’re re-roofing, you can consider replacing shingles or asphalt with their lighter-colored versions.
2. Choose the Right Re-roofing Materials
Selecting the best-performing roofing material for your home depends on two main factors:
• Where you live (especially the climate in your area)
• What sort of house you have
Simply choosing the right material could result in almost a 30 percent decrease in your home’s energy needs. Best roofing materials will help reflect UV rays effectively.
Here are a few roofing materials you can consider:
• Tiles made of either clay or concrete are weather resistant, although they may crack during extreme weathers such as hail storms. They do not emit much heat, but they do a good job of avoiding UV ray absorption. Moreover, you can also add reflective coatings on them.
• Green roofs are of great advantage in urban areas. They can help reduce the urban heat island effect. Green roofs also offer more insulation for your attic or top floors. Moreover, the greater insulation offered by green roofs can reduce the amount of energy needed to moderate the temperature of a building in summers and winters. They have relatively lower burning heat load than conventional roofs and can also provide protection from fire to a certain extent.
• Often made of steel or aluminum, metal roofs are resistant to insects, rot and mildew. They are extremely effective when it comes to deflecting heat into the air. They are fire-resistant and relatively stronger as well as durable. They are lightweight and can last 20-50 years.
• Elastomeric roof top coatings not only reflect heat but they also help extend the life of your roof.
3. Insulate the Underside of the Roof
When it comes to going green, insulating your roof is one of the brilliant things you can do. A properly insulated roof can help negate the need for a mechanical system as well as meet heating and cooling needs perfectly. A poorly insulated roof, on the other hand, means more air-conditioning will be needed in summer and more heat in winter.
Apart from choosing the right material for roof insulation, here are a few things you need to keep in mind:
• Consider leaving an airspace between the insulation and the roofing material as it will help reduce the possibility of moisture getting trapped in the structure or the insulation which can cause mildew or mold.
• If you have open or high beams or live in a cooler area, then you can consider a radiant barrier, which allows your roof to deflect the heat rather than absorb it.
4. Other Essentials to Follow
• Do thorough research and study the aspects related to energy-efficient roofs beforehand. Choose the method that best fits your needs.
• Choose an experienced and skilled roofer. Make sure that he/she is knowledgeable about the various roofing materials and knows which material will make for a great roof for your home, especially in your area.
• The Cool Roof Rating Council is a great resource to check the performance of cool roofs. This can help you make an informed decision about the type of roof you want to go for.
• Searching on the Web can also help greatly. When searching online, enter the type of service that you need and your location in the search engine. For instance, if you are located in San Bernardino and want to replace your roof, you can simply enter roof replacement San Bernardino. This will provide you with a list of relevant results.
Conclusion
Small yet effective changes in your roof can help you live a greener lifestyle. Not only will the above tips help increase energy efficiency in your home, but also aid the environment and decrease your energy utility bills. Moreover, they will also help decrease the heat retention of your home, thereby increasing its comfort level considerably. So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to replace old or outdated roofing, maximize your savings, and go green.
(Image Credit:Toiturestoutessaisons.ca)
