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Choose a Roof That Keeps Your Home Cooler in Summer

Cool Roof

If you plan to replace your home roof this spring, then you should choose a roof that is not only attractive, but that also suits the unique needs of your family.

If you are tired of your sky-high home cooling bills in the summer or have difficulty keeping the top floors of your home as cool as your first floor, then you should choose a new roof that helps keep your home as cool as possible during the summer to help lower home cooling bills or encourage an even temperature throughout your home during the hot summer.

Read on to learn two tips for choosing a new roof that keeps your home cooler in the summer.

Choose the Right Roof Material

Some roof materials can help keep a home cooler in the summer than others.

Roof materials that keep your home cool in the summer tend to absorb less of the sun’s heat than other roof materials or allow for ventilation between the roof material and decking. Roof materials that must be installed flush against roof decking typically pass much of the sun’s heat that they do absorb into the air of your home through a process called thermal transfer.

However, some roof materials that are great options for use in areas of the country that never develop freezing temperatures are not advised for use in Maryland due to the fact that Maryland roofs must be able to withstand the freeze thaw cycles of winter without developing damage.

Two roof materials that can help keep your home cool in the summer and withstand the harsh winter weather in Maryland include concrete tiles and metal roofs.

Concrete Tiles

Concrete tiles are a great option for many Maryland homeowners who want to reduce summer cooling bills. Since concrete is such a thick, dense material, concrete tiles do not absorb the sun’s heat as quickly as many other roof materials and pass little of the heat they do absorb into the home.

Concrete tiles with a curved shape, called S-tiles, allow airflow underneath the tiles to reduce heat transfer onto your roof decking. For even less heat transfer into your home, have your concrete tiles installed with a batten system that creates even more airspace between the tiles and the roof decking.

Metal Roofs

Metal roofs are also great options for homeowners who want roofs that keep their homes as cool as possible during the summer. Metal roofs can be made of aluminum, steel, or copper. Every metal roof type reflects much of the sun’s heat instead of absorbing it. In addition, metal roofs can also be installed with airspace between the metal roof panels and the roof decking to eliminate transfer of heat the metal does absorb into the home.

Choose a Light Roof Color 

No matter what type of roof material you choose, you can help keep your home cooler in the summer by opting for a roof material that is light in color. Most dark-colored materials absorb much more of the sun’s heat than the same materials in a lighter colors.

There are numerous concrete tile color options. Along with choosing a light tile color, also select slurry-coated tiles instead of color-bonded tiles. Slurry-coated tiles are colored by baking a coat of cement-infused pigment to the top of the tile instead of mixing the pigment into the tile itself.

This coloring method creates a shinier tile surface that reflects even more of the sun’s rays than other concrete tiles.

Choose a metal roof coating that is light in color and also labeled or advertised as “solar reflective.” These coatings often contain infrared (IR) and/or mixed metal oxide (MMO) pigments that reflect the sun’s rays more efficiently than some other types of color pigments.

If you plan to replace your Maryland roof soon and would like to keep your home cooler in the summer to reduce home cooling bills and/or keep the upper floors of your home just as cool as your home’s bottom floor, then keep these two tips in mind when choosing your new roof type and color. Contact the roofing professionals at Ray’s Harford Home Improvement Contractors Inc to schedule new roof installation today.

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