As summer approaches, even the coolest regions of the country can take on sweltering heat. These temperatures can make driving and outdoor exercise a bit less comfortable, and your yard can become incredibly thirsty, but worst of all, your energy bills start to skyrocket. Suddenly, your air conditioning has to kick into high gear in order to keep you safe from temperatures approaching the triple digits! Just think about how your roof feels, though! It has to sit out in the hot sun all day! You might be thinking, "Of course it does! It is built to tolerate the heat and cold, right?" Not necessarily. The US Department of Energy has recorded that the average American roof is up to 50 degrees hotter than the surrounding air during the hottest months of the year. That means that your roof can be a scalding 140 degrees on the average summer day! It might not be hot enough to bake a chicken, but it is definitely hot enough to send your utility costs into the hot atmosphere. After all, the heat that your roof absorbs can transfer throughout your entire home, forcing your air conditioning to work even harder. What can you do to eliminate these problems, then? How can you protect your roof from the hottest months of the year? Even in the middle of summer, it is never too late to pursue experts in South Jersey roofing jobs and enlist them to cool down your roof. Here is a brief guide to what it takes to keep a roof cool: • If you have ever sweated through a black shirt on a hot day, then you understand the effects of color on heat absorption. Roofs that are darkly-colored--something that is incredibly common--absorb the most heat. • Cool roofs are lighter in color than traditional roofs, which tend to have dark wood, metal, or asphalt shingles. Roofs that are a lighter color, though, can be up to 50 degrees cooler than dark roofs, saving you money on energy costs and reducing the heat impact on your entire home. Expert roofers can coat your roof in heat-reflective white coating, a simple process that is less pricey than your summer's utility bills. • If you are having roofing repairs or replacements performed, consider having traditional shingles replaced with cooler, lightly-colored ones. • Flat-top roofs, which are more common for commercial than residential properties, can be reinforced with white PVC membranes, which deflect the sunlight rather than absorb it. • For a cooler roof, also consider the power of insulation. Insulating your attic prevents the roof's temperatures from seeping into your home. A well-insulated roof, though, prevents extreme heat from getting into your attic at all. If you are concerned that your roof might have been poorly-insulated (common in homes built before 1980), then discuss your options with a roofing contractor. This job will also cost you less than your high utility costs, resulting in a positive investment rather than an extra home expense. • Cool roofs will not have the opposite effect of becoming chillier in the winter. While those in the northeast should be aware of extreme weather in both the summer and winter, they should not be concerned that a cool roof will be prone to snow or ice buildup in the winter, or at least not more so than a traditional roof. Sunlight absorption has a smaller effect on temperature levels of roofs during the winter than the summer, when the sun is strong and direct. While a cooler roof will be colder in the winter, the temperature difference will not be significant. In the summer, though, the difference will be much more marked. • You can find information on roof-cooling products by researching the Cool Roof Rating Council's directory, a collection of information devoted to decreasing the American home and business owner's utility costs in hot weather. They gather information on various products and assess their performance in hot weather. This can guide you to recommend heat-reflective products to a local roofing contractor. Those experienced in South Jersey roofing jobs will also have their own information on products that are cool enough to stand the summer heat.
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