Do you have air conditioning?
 

Just curious how many people here on ER have AC.

In my area it works out pretty good for me not having AC so far. This is still the first full summer I've been in the house, but there really haven't been any unbearable temperatures. I do have window units, but I haven't had to use them. They aren't even installed, and I actually freecycled one earlier this summer. With a bit more planning, maybe a bit more thermal mass, and a few insulation upgrades I think we'll be even better off next year.

Our summer temps are often above 100 during the day. AC is required. We would need it less if we had a white metal roof instead of dark brown comp. I added radiant barrier in the attic but the AC still runs by the early afternoon on hot days. During spring our AC is set to 78, in summer it is set to 79 during the day. As our trees grow, I am hoping that we will need it less and less. We are also planning on getting new windows which should help.

An article I recently read in Home Power magazine told of a remodel that used green metal roofing, but it had a special heat reflecting pigment in it. Pretty interesting.

That kind of roofing would only work in the southern areas though wouldn't it? In the winter I'd still want a roof that helps to heat up the home.

According to things I've read, unless you have an insanely steep roof that keeps snow off of it, a light roof is the way to go. Otherwise the snow build up negates any benefits of having a dark roof.

'Invisible' Solar Energy Capture...
 

I saw some interesting work recently on 'invisible' solar energy capture.


The idea is to staple up PEX using aluminum spreaders under a conventional roof. and insulation behind the PEX. The efficiency is low, about 8%, but the cost is very low and the area is very large. It would be a good match for hot water pre-heat, or as a low-grade thermal feed for a water sourced heat pump.

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BTW, I have AC, it's a mini split, not one of the options on the poll. It works good and is very efficient, I don't use it much but it makes life much more comfortable when I do need it.

Regards,

-AC_Hacker

I was thinking of something similar a few weeks ago. When I was working on my attic hatch insulation, it was a sunny day and the attic was of course hot. It really makes me just want to run a loop of PEX up into the attic just to get preheated in summer. For our southern readers, this could be used year round and I'd expect it would work pretty darn good even if you didn't staple it up to the underside of the roof.