Cool Roof - white reflects light

They're known as a cool roof. They don't look "cool" from my perspective, but if you're on the roof, you'll notice that it's much cooler than a traditional black roof.

Remember that black absorbs heat quickly and that heat radiates through your attic insulation and heats the ceiling of your home. A simple way to keep that from happening is to paint your roof white with a special roofing paint.

It sounds odd, but it could be one of the best tips out there when it comes to staying cool.

A white roof is a cool roof, and it helps reflect the sun and keep your attic much cooler. If your attic is cooler, your ceiling will stay cooler. If your ceiling is cooler, your house will stay cooler.

It worked great for me when I rented a little cottage in California. The little homemade house didn't have much insulation in the attic, and there wasn't much of an attic to speak of, so the interior of the house got very warm from the sun beating down on the black roof.

Using a white paint designed to paint the roofs of mobile homes to keep them from overheating, the landlord applied the paint to the shingles of the cottage. It made a tremendous difference in the inside temperature.

If you try this, just remember to use something designed to paint the roof. Regular house paint won't cut it. You need roof paint. Ask someone that sells supplies for mobile homes.

I wasn't trying to cool the little cottage, but having the temperature drop 20 degrees indoors was a great change from what I was trying to endure in that little summer sweat box.

Done with Cool Roof, back to Ways to Save Energy