A cheap & easy solar heat blocker is to make an exterior storm window from 1"x2" stock, and stretch over it a solar emergency blanket. Tape the edges down, install with the reflective side facing out. This system costs about $10 per opening.

Here is my solution that I and my HOA was happy with:

http://ecorenovator.org/forum/attach...all-.jpg?stc=1

Landmark EnergyStar rated asphalt shingles by Certainteed in Silver Birch color. This is the only 25%+ heat reflective asphalt shingle that isn't white or $$$$$$$. In fact, this was a no additional cost upgrade. Most shingles only reflect 3-8% of heat.

On a 93F sunny day, my old shingles were 159F, the underside of the roof deck was 136F, the top of my R30 blown-in insulation was 118F, and the ceiling side of my drywall was approx 88F.

Before replacing the roof, I put a sample patch up. On a 70F mostly sunny day, the old roof was 144F while the new shingles were only 124F!

I haven't gone back up there to test since the weather is warmer, but on a couple of 90F days, the ceiling is within 1-2F of room temp, and downstairs rooms with sun coming in them are much hotter than upstairs rooms without sun!

Note the Crepe Myrtles shading the walls, windows, door & garage door. This photo was taken around 6pm.

Temp test on 70F day. Old roof:

http://ecorenovator.org/forum/attach...1&d=1337444284

And new roof:


http://ecorenovator.org/forum/attach...1&d=1337444012

The whole house pic doesn't do it justice due to low resolution. It is a very pretty light gray with some visual texture to it. A poll of my neighbors showed that most preferred it to the color of my old roof.

This was the first solar reflective roof my roofer had done. His comment when we were on the roof together inspecting the job? "Wow! It actually feels cool up here! Most roofs you just feel baked from below."

Can you say "improved PV array efficiency?"

That looks promising! You made me wanna try and photoshop if my house looks good with a white roof

It's actually a pleasing light gray. Wish the picture did it justice. Most white roofs are very... well, WHITE, and they tend not to stay that way. You're welcome to come look, but it looks like your trip would be a bit long!:D

Many home improvement stores have a large sample patch installed on the wall and smaller sample boards you can take home with a deposit. Since you aren't in the US, the specification you are looking for is "Initial Solar Reflectance". Energy star criteria are that this number must be at least 0.25 and maintain 0.15 SR after 3 years. Mine are 0.27, higher is better.

Landmark Solaris Platinum shingles from Certainteed have an ISR of 0.40 but are $$$ because of higher cost per square and more bundles to cover 1 square.

Hahaha the tickets for the trip would cost me my whole 401k :D

I saw some sold here at Home Depot and at Ace hardware...I was just passing by so I wasn't able to ask the specs on it and how to attach it and if it'll stand u to 100kph winds since typhoons hit this place 20-30 times a year.

But that color looks a lot lighter than the one on my sheetmetal roof..so i'm quite sure that it's gonna be effective like you mentioned :thumbup:

When installed as recommended by Certainteed(details on their site) they give a 110mph wind warranty on Landmark shingles and 130mph on Solaris and others. Homeowner's insurance also covers wind damage.

Metal roofs almost always are more thermally reflective, but many don't like the look/cost/rain noise. I'm required by my HOA to use asphalt shingles.

Craig

Craig,

It's good to see how much cooler your new roof is and how well it fits with the house and neighborhood.

FWIW, We have a 'galvalume' metal roof which fits well with our house and in our neighborhood (no HOA either). We don't notice much rain noise at all, though that may be due to the R-50 of cellulose insulation in the attic.

Tim

FYI - Here's another study on white roofs - The long-term effect of increasing the albedo of urban areas. Researchers at the Concordia University Heat Island Group in Montreal estimate that painting 1% of the world’s urban surfaces white (rooftops and pavement) could reduce CO2 emissions by 130 gigatons over the next 50-100 years!

One more reason to Paint it White.

Tim

Just thought I'd toss this in there:

The Science: Why Radiant Barriers Don't Work in Connecticut

Shall I go with a silver birch colored Certain tweed roof? How much cooler would it make the house in the summer and how about heat holding capacity in the winter. I live in a mild climate in bay area California, but it does get in the low 100s and 90's sometimes in the summer during the day with cool nights. I am concerned about the "look" of silver birch but really want the house to be a cool as possible so I don't need AC and I don't want to spend the $ for Solaris and don't know that they will hold up over time. I struggle with the curb appeal concept but maybe there will be a trend to lighter colored roofs in the future as the price of energy goes up.

This seems great but I have a question. If it decrease temperature in summers then won't it like increase it in winters? I mean won't the house be colder in winters? :confused:

Yes, it will. However, if you have enough attic insulation the effect should be minimized in either scenario.

Keep in mind, it won't matter what color your roof is in the winter once it has been painted white with snow. ..unless you are in a climate with little snow in the winter but I don't think I can include Ontario in that. I think you'd be better off to plan for the summer in this case.

Also, the low angle of the sun in the winter and the limited daylight means that you "lose less" in the winter, so overall you can save a LOT more energy in the summer than you lose in the winter.

I took a backpack sprayer from harbor freight mixed 50% water 50% water based white opaque wood stain and then dusted my roof to lighten the shade...worked fine less stark than pure white. But now in summer I'm going to try the temporary hydrated lime whitewash I saw in earlier post! Sounds perfect.

Welcome to the site Philhersey.

How well did the wood stain work for you?

I wonder if adding pigments, like a light gray pigment, would help the "desirability" of doing this on dark gray/black roofs? Since I am a youngster by most of your standards, I am not familiar with lime-washes. Doing some research, it does appear pigments in a lime-wash is very common.

solid color water based opaque wood stain
 

.... it worked fine to lighten the shade a lot from black to light grey. It's been up there two years no problems, stays on, stays white. I painted two shingles 100% in a place not seen from street and they are fine too. Looks ok, not great, but better than if I had painted entire roof stark white.

Hi Mobile Master Tech,

Thank you so much for the detailed info on your certainteed silver birch roof. I'm considering to reroof with exact same material as yours. May I please ask:
- How well does your roof hold up?
- How much energy savings do you see on your bill in summer time?
- Do you see any increase in energy bill in winter time? since the roof reflects sunlight, I wonder if it makes house colder in winter.

Thanks,

Back on this forum after a long absence! The Certainteed Landmark shingles in Silver Birch color have held up well. A minor issue: they seem to lose more granules over time than others I have seen. I just had a whopper of a storm damage the roof, so they may be re-replaced by insurance. So far it looks like I will go with the same thing again, as there don't seem to be any new entrants with greater than 0.25 initial solar reflectance (ISR) to qualify as Energy Star rated that also avoid a significant cost premium. If I find some that do, I'll post.

One interesting find for those who want or must have a black roof: Certainteed now makes Landmark Solaris and Pro Solaris in Moire Black, Satin Black, and Max Def Black with a 0.19 ISR, according the the Cool Roof Rating Council (CRRC, coolroofs.org). While not great, that's amazing for a black roof! CRRC has the ISR of most roof choices listed, and many non-white asphalt shingle colors now have an ISR of 0.20 or greater. That's not good enough for Energy Star certification, but significantly higher than the 0.03-0.08 that most shingles used to have.

I didn't keep track of exact energy savings and also made some other changes around the same time, but I would estimate my roof saved 30% on peak summer electricity usage without losing much winter heat gain (there's far less winter heat to gain than there is summer heat to reject). Even though the roof is supposed to be algae resistant, significant amounts of algae darkening have increased my summer electicity usage. I'll see if it goes back down again if the roof is replaced or cleaned.