Summers in Brisbane can be excruciating for your family. If your house is located on a heat island, then you have a lot more to worry about. Even if you have a good air conditioning unit to keep your house cool, you’re going to have to be mindful of your electricity bill instead.
What most homeowners don’t know is that your roof can be your friend when it comes to cooling your home. However, it can be the opposite of that as well.
You need to remember that the first thing that the sun’s rays hit is the roof. If you’re not careful, the roof can turn your home into an oven during the summer. If you want to stay cool without doubling or tripling your electricity bill, here are a few ways you can cool your roof.
- Have It Repainted
Yes, repainting your roof actually helps cool it down. However, not all types of paint are capable of this. According to Brisbane Roof And Paint, you should look for roof experts that can provide a heat-reflective coating on your roof.
The heat-reflective coating works by letting the heat bounce off of your home. Traditionally, roofs absorb that heat and then spread it around the house. What’s great about this is that there are heat-reflective coatings that come in a wider selection of colours – including dark ones! This means that you don’t need to sacrifice your home’s style for comfort anymore.
If such coatings are not available near your home, what you can do instead is to have your roof painted a lighter colour. Light colours are able to absorb heat more efficiently so this can also decrease the amount of heat that your home experiences.
- Switch To Reflective Shingles/Tiles
If you’re looking to have your roof replaced soon, you might as well pick better materials that will help regulate the temperature better. Solar reflective shingles are products that effectively keep your house cool. While more expensive than regular shingles, these can help lower your utility bills due to the fact that it makes your air conditioner work less.
Most solar reflective shingles are made of concrete or asphalt. With this type of roof material, you don’t have to worry about your roof absorbing unnecessary heat from the sun anymore.
- Install A “Green” Roof
By definition, a green roof is a rooftop that features an installation of plants, vegetables, and the like. Aside from giving your home a more rustic and natural appeal, a green roof can effectively lower temperatures as well.
This can help provide shade for your home from direct sunlight. Additionally, the evaporation and transpiration from the water of the plants can also help lower the surrounding air temperatures in your home as well.
A green roof requires maintenance and a lot of hard work to keep going. Make sure you’ll be dedicated to keeping the plants alive and healthy.
A good alternative to this is to have more trees surrounding your home which helps the same way as a green roof albeit in a reduced manner.
- Go Solar
Solar power installations are costly up front. However, if you look at the long-term cost of your electricity bills, you’ll see your returns in a matter of months once you pick this environmentally friendly alternative. That’s not all though, solar panels are actually an effective way to keep your roof cool.
These panels are made with photovoltaic cells. These helps block the heat from hitting the roof. Of course, the cells also convert the heat into electricity which in turn powers your home. This is just one of the many benefits of going solar that you should consider.
- Update Your Roof’s Insulation
Every home should have insulation under the roof. This can greatly lower the temperature inside your home. There are a lot of ways you can add insulation under your roof. Here are the most common ones:
- Spray Foam – This is one of the most common and most efficient ways to provide insulation for your home. What’s great about spray foam is that they are also easy to install and they are cheap too.
- Insulation boards – These are made out of closed-cell foam. It can be installed in your homes as if you’re applying a plywood board on a wall or a surface. When installed under your roof, it can help provide better insulation. However, insulation boards become damaged over time because of UV rays.
- Batt blanket insulation – Also called mineral wool insulation batts, these are one of the cheapest insulation materials available right now. Like spray foam, it’s also to install.
Summer is still months away here in Australia. You still have more than enough time to prepare your roof and your home for those extremely hot days. There are a lot of ways to keep your roof cool but we believe that it’s these 4 methods that are the most effective and most efficient.
