How To Reduce Heat In House Roof?

How To Reduce Heat In House Roof
Download Article Download Article There are a variety of ways to protect your roof from sunlight and heat. If you have a flat roof, the easiest way to avoid sun damage is to cover your home in a reflective coating. You can also pour gravel or plant a garden to cover your roof and protect it from direct sunlight.

  1. 1 Cover a flat roof with reflective paint to keep the heat off. Cool roof coatings are white or silver paints that are made with reflective pigments. Cool roof coatings are the most commonly-used method to cool roofs because they’re inexpensive, easy to use, and don’t require help from a contractor.
    • In roofing, the term “cool roof” is used to denote a roof that is specifically designed to reflect heat.
    • If your roof is made of shingles or asphalt sheeting, your roof is already designed to reflect heat and should not be painted. If you want to cover a metal roof, get a coating designed specifically for metal.
    • Cool roof coatings are almost always waterproof as well.

    Warning: If your roof sits on an angle, you cannot apply this coating. The coating essentially works like a mirror, and you could blind your neighbors and nearby motorists if your roof is visible from the ground. Painting a pitched roof is often illegal without a license as well.

  2. 2 Pour gravel on your flat roof if you want an added layer of protection. If you have a flat roof, you can add a layer of reflective gravel to protect the roof from sunlight while helping with drainage. Purchase reflective gravel from a roofing company or at a home repair store and take it up to your roof.
    • You cannot add gravel to a roof that doesn’t have a rim around the exterior of the building. If there’s no barrier, your gravel will simply slide off of the roof over time.

    Warning: Do not add massive heaps of gravel. They won’t be as effective as a clean, even layer. Large piles may also become hazardous over time as the weight weighs down your roof. Keep your layer of gravel thinner than 2 inches (5.1 cm) to avoid any structural problems. Advertisement

  3. 3 Plant a garden on your roof if it’s flat and easily accessible. A rooftop garden is a great way to take advantage of the large amount of sunlight while blocking the surface of the roof from the sun. While you won’t be able to completely cover your roof, you will be able to protect a large majority of the surface.
    • Your roof must be structurally sound to handle the weight of a large garden. Contact an architectural or engineering firm to inspect your roof before installing a garden.
    • Most roofs don’t have access to a running supply of water, so you may need to store water on the roof or run a hose up to the roof.
  4. 4 Get a contractor to cover your roof with polyurethane foam if it’s sloped. To waterproof your roof while protecting it from the sun, hire a contractor to install a polyurethane foam on top of your roofing material. The contractors will clean your roof and use an aerosol spray to seal your roof in polyurethane foam.
    • It is illegal to install a polyurethane foam roofing membrane if you aren’t a licensed contractor. You must hire someone to install it for you.
    • Polyurethane foam coatings cost $4-7 per square foot ($13-22 per square meter).
  5. 5 Hire a contractor to install a reflective membrane if you have a sloped roof. Roof membranes are prefabricated sheets that are attached to a roof using fasteners. They reflect sunlight and keep weather from wearing down your roof over time. You cannot install a membrane yourself, so contact a contractor in your area to get quotes for a roofing membrane.
    • This is the best option for sloped roofs that can’t be painted with a reflective coating. However, if you already have an asphalt or shingle roof, you may not see a ton of improvement.
    • Roofing membranes typically cost $4-5 per square foot ($13-16 per square meter).
  6. 6 Get solar panels installed to cool your roof and cut your utility costs. Solar panels are designed to attract sunlight in the area around them. In addition, they physically cover a large portion of your roof, partially shielding it from exposure to the sun. This can lower the temperature of your roof considerably while saving you money at the same time. Buy solar panels if you can afford the upfront cost and want a long-term, sustainable solution to keep your roof cool. Tip: While it can cost $10,000-30,000 to initially install the solar panels, the prices come down every year as the technology improves. They also pay for themselves over a longer period of time as your electric and gas bills go down.
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  1. 1 Install radiant roof barriers to insulate your attic. While it won’t limit your roof’s contact with the sun, radiant roof barriers can keep heat off of your roof by limiting the space where the heat can go. Purchase a roll of radiant roof barrier from a supplier and spread it out along your wall.
    • Radiant roof barriers are typically installed in an unfinished attic where there isn’t much interior insulation.
    • Use a utility knife to cut slits into the sheeting to wrap it around any pipes or columns.
    • The barrier doesn’t need to be taut or airtight to work effectively. So long as the majority of your attic’s walls are covered, most of the heat from the sun will struggle to enter your home.

    Tip: This can be kind of tricky to do without the help of friend holding the opposite end of a sheet up. Ask a friend or family member to stabilize the sheets for you as you staple.

  2. 2 Put a fan or AC unit in your attic to improve ventilation. Keeping your attic properly ventilated is an excellent way to naturally lower the temperature of your roof. Install a ceiling fan or set up a large industrial fan in your attic. If you want to cool the attic independently of the rest of your house, install a window unit in a window in your attic.
    • Keep in mind that any of these options will cause your electricity bill to increase. However, your air conditioning costs will certainly go down in the summer.
  3. 3 Install a solar-powered fan to force air through your roof’s vents. There are air gaps built near the floor where your pitched roof meets the floor. To increase the natural ventilation in your attic, get a solar-powered fan designed to push more air through the vent.
    • The benefit of a solar-powered fan is that it will only kick on when the sun is out. This will naturally regulate the temperature in your attic.
    • You can hire a contractor to install one of these fans for you.
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If your roof isn’t flat, don’t risk getting up on your roof. It’s better to hire a contractor than risk your life to keep your roof cool.

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What can I use to reduce the heat in my ceiling?

Photo Courtesy of Lomanco Roll-out continuous attic ridge vent has many passages for the air to flow out of the hottest part of the attic.Q. Even though my house is adequately insulated, my air conditioner runs a lot. On sunny days, the bedroom ceiling seems hot, so heat must be coming from the hot roof.

  • How can I reduce this afternoon heat flow? A.
  • Adequate insulation is only one aspect of keeping your house cool and reducing your air-conditioning costs.
  • By “insulation,” most people mean thermal insulation which blocks heat conduction.
  • This includes fiberglass, rock wool and/or cellulose insulation on the attic floor and in the walls.It is easy to tell if the ceiling is hotter than the walls just by putting the back of your hand against it.

If it really is much hotter, this may be one of the significant sources of your high cooling electric bills during summer. Thermal insulation is not particularly effective at blocking the radiant heat from a hot roof. Even with the air conditioner running and the room air reasonably cool, you may still feel uncomfortably warm under a warm ceiling.

This often causes you to set the air conditioner thermostat even lower and this further increases your electric bills. You are correct that the heat is likely coming from a hot roof. A dark-colored, shingle roof easily can reach 150 degrees in the hot summer sun. Light-colored shingles reduce the roof temperature.

Metal roofs, particularly aluminum ones, stay even cooler and minimize the heat transfer down to the ceiling below. This is why some qualify for energy tax credits. Photo Courtesy of Fifoil Nylon mesh-reinforced attic foil is stapled underneath the roof after. It also is wrapped around the heating/cooling duct insulation. Other than installing an expensive metal roof, stapling reflective aluminum foil under the attic rafters and adding adequate attic ventilation can help significantly.

  • When I installed the foil and more attic vents in my own home, I could immediately feel the difference in my bedroom temperature.
  • Although it is often called “reflective” attic foil because it is shiny, it is actually the low-emissivity properties of the underside of the foil which makes it most effective.

Its low emissivity reduces the amount of heat it radiates downward from the foil and roof to the room ceiling below. It is not critical how neatly the foil is stapled under the roof rafters. Most two-sided foil is reinforced with nylon mesh. Low-cost, single-sided foil over kraft paper is the least expensive type.

When using single-sided foil, the shiny side should face downward. Another option is low-emissivity silver paint, which is sprayed on the underside of the roof sheathing. Install attic vents, preferably a ridge vent and inlet soffit vents. This air flow, between the hot roof and the top surface of the foil, carries the heat away and keeps both cooler.

You will be surprised at how hot the exiting air actually gets.Q. I am planning to install some replacement windows and doors in my house. I have heard about turtle glass and that many people are using it now. What is turtle glass and is it very energy efficient? A.

Turtle glass, usually used in coastal areas, and it is actually mandated in many areas. The glass reduces the light transmission from indoors to outdoors at night. It does not effect energy efficiency. Sea turtles crawl up on the shore and lay their eggs. They use the light from the moon to navigate back to the water.

Bright lights can confuse them and they go the wrong way. If they do not get back to the water, they die. Send inquiries to James Dulley, Staten Island Advance, 6906 Royalgreen Dr., Cincinnati, Ohio.45244 or visit www.dulley.com. – Keep your cool The first three companies offer attic foil.

How do I keep my roof cool in the summer naturally?

Another way of reducing roof temperature is stacking bundles of damp straw (a natural insulator) on a plastic sheet on the roof. However, the best way to keep a roof cool is a terrace garden (the mud used to grow plants acts as an insulator) though it may be time-consuming.

Does spraying water on roof cool house?

Would putting a sprinkler on my roof help cool my home? Yes, water on the roof will help cool it. Cooling with liquid water running off from a sprinkler is not efficient, but evaporative cooling from a small amount of water (like a periodic sprinkle) is very efficient.1 gallon of water consumes 8000 BTU as it evaporates.

If you spread 1 gallon of water on the roof once an hour and it evaporates you’ve made the same cooling effect as adding an 8000 BTU air conditioning unit. (They are rated in BTU of heat moved per hour.) That’s like a 0.66 ton AC unit dedicated to cooling your roof surface! (In HVAC, a 1 ton means moving enough heat to melt 1 ton of ice in 24 hours, which takes 12,000 BTU per hour.

So 8000 BTU / 12000 BTU = 1 ton of cooling). Add too much water (or too often) and it begins running off, at which point not all of your water is doing evaporative cooling. It’s doing regular heat transfer via thermal mass, which has a much smaller impact.

  • It takes 1 BTU to heat a pound of water by 1 degree.
  • If you put 1 gallon (8.34 pounds) of 70-degree water sealed in plastic on a 160 degree roof, and the water heats up to 130 degrees, you’ve consumed 500 BTUs of heat from the roof (60 degrees x 8.34 pounds).
  • If it’s not sealed in plastic and evaporates, you consume an additional 8000 BTU as that gallon evaporates.

Once the evaporation cools the roof to, say, 100 degrees, an additional gallon of 70 degree water can only warm up to at most 100 degrees, a 30 degree increase, which would only consume 30 x 8.34 = 250 BTU. Simply put, your cooling is very efficient if little or no water runs off.

Add as much water as you can without any runoff to get maximum efficiency cooling. In industrial buildings, this kind of evaporative cooling doesn’t just reduce the heat coming in from the roof – it can reverse the heat flow and make the roof a cooling element! Warm air inside a large plant will rise and will often be well above 100 degrees inside the building; an evaporation-cooled roof could bring roof surface temp down from 165 F to 90F degrees and will be carrying heat out of the building.

Some engineering calculations at the industrial level: : Would putting a sprinkler on my roof help cool my home?

What can absorb heat?

Thermal mass materials – Probably the simplest form of thermal mass is a concrete slab floor. You can also use concrete blocks, tiles, brick, rammed earth and stone. Three factors determine how good a material is at absorbing and storing heat. The ideal material is:

dense and heavy, so it can absorb and store significant amounts of heat (lighter materials, such as wood, absorb less heat) a reasonably good heat conductor (heat has to be able to flow in and out) has a dark surface, a textured surface or both (helping it absorb and re-radiate heat).

Different thermal mass materials absorb varying amounts of heat, and take longer (or shorter) to absorb and re-radiate it. For example, a brick wall has higher thermal mass than a timber framed cavity wall, so it will absorb more heat than a timber framed wall of the same thickness.

  • When the sun is shining into a room and the air is warm, heat will be absorbed by the walls, floor and other surfaces in the room.
  • How much heat they can hold depends on what they’re made of and how thick they are.
  • Some materials can absorb a lot of heat without warming up very much.
  • Others will become quite warm after absorbing small amounts of heat.

Thermal mass materials belong to the former. That means that if, for example, a concrete slab floor is exposed to direct sunlight it will be able to absorb and store a lot of heat and release it slowly. A different material, for example a timber floor, cannot absorb and store as much heat, so what heat it does absorb is released quickly.

As a result, much of the energy in the sunlight will quickly end up in the surrounding air, increasing your room temperature during the warmest parts of the day. You can compare thermal mass to a sponge. Much of the water hitting it will be absorbed. A material with little thermal mass properties will behave more like a plain surface.

Any water hitting it will bounce back and end up in the air. In winter, properly designed thermal mass will absorb the heat from the sunlight on it during the day. Then, as the air temperature drops, the heat will move from the warmer thermal mass to the cooler air and other surfaces in the room.

Does insulation foam reduce heat?

Walls – How To Reduce Heat In House Roof Photo: Reduce the energy losses from your home by filling the walls full of foam insulation. This eco-home is being insulated with Icynene, a plastic insulation material similar to that used in pillows and mattresses. Photo by Paul Norton courtesy of US Department of Energy/National Renewable Energy Laboratory (DOE/NREL).

  1. Many homes have what are called cavity walls with two layers of brick or blocks between the inner rooms and the world outside and an air gap between the walls.
  2. The air gap reduces heat losses from the walls by both conduction and convection: conduction, because heat can’t conduct through gases; convection, because there’s relatively little air between the walls and it’s sealed in, so convection currents can’t really circulate.

By itself, air isn’t the best insulating material to have between your walls. It’s actually far more effective to have the cavities in your walls filled with expanding foam or another really good insulating material that stops heat escaping. Cavity-wall insulation, as this is known, takes only hours to install and costs relatively little.

What is the alternative of AC?

How air conditioning works – The traditional cooling part of HVAC that most people recognize as the boxy unit sitting outside a house transfers the hot air from inside a home to the outside, while simultaneously cooling air with refrigerant and releasing it through vents in each room.

The energy efficiency of an HVAC depends on the system’s age, whether it gets regular maintenance and if the air filter is changed. Air conditioners cost U.S. homeowners a total of about $29 billion per year, according to the Department of Energy. They also release about 117 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the air on an annual basis.

Next: Sometimes HVAC just won’t cut it to cool your house. For many, soaring temperatures in the summer months make living in a climate-controlled home crucial. But cooling through a heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, or HVAC, may not always be the best solution.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, three-quarters of all U.S. homes have air conditioners, adding up to about 6% of all electricity produced nationwide. Whether you’re looking to reduce your energy use, cut those summer utility bills or if your house simply doesn’t work with an HVAC system, you have many options to keep your space cool in the heat.

Here are six alternatives to central air conditioning. How air conditioning works The traditional cooling part of HVAC that most people recognize as the boxy unit sitting outside a house transfers the hot air from inside a home to the outside, while simultaneously cooling air with refrigerant and releasing it through vents in each room.

The energy efficiency of an HVAC depends on the system’s age, whether it gets regular maintenance and if the air filter is changed. Air conditioners cost U.S. homeowners a total of about $29 billion per year, according to the Department of Energy. They also release about 117 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the air on an annual basis.

Ductless or mini split air conditioner Getting between walls isn’t always an easy option to install ductwork, so a less invasive way to incorporate air conditioning is with a ductless system, also referred to as a mini split system. These systems include a condenser unit outside the home, which is similar to a refrigerated air conditioning unit but smaller.

  1. Connected to the condenser are small units for each room that are attached to a wall.
  2. Installation on exterior walls is typically preferred for connecting copper tubing to the exterior condenser.
  3. Advantage: The individual units of a mini split system allow you to adjust the temperature of each room.

, Disadvantage: The more rooms you need to cool, the more it costs, as each space needs its own unit., Cost: A ductless system with installation typically starts at around $2,000 and can reach $18,000 for a five-zone system, according to HomeAdvisor.

Window unit or portable air conditioner One of the most popular alternatives to central air is a window unit or portable air conditioner that cools a single room., Advantage: A portable air conditioner or window unit is one of the fastest ways to effectively cool a room. Once you’ve purchased the air conditioner, all you need is an outlet and a window,

, Disadvantage: Whether installed in a window or made to sit on the floor, these compact air conditioners need to be able to release exhaust outside, either by being propped in the window or with an exhaust hose positioned in an opening in the window, which isn’t always easy or convenient.

Otherwise, the hotter air stays in the room and the unit can’t effectively cool the space., Cost: Both window and portable air conditioners can run from just under $150 to $800 or more and can be purchased at stores such as Lowe’s, Bed Bath & Beyond and Home Depot. Evaporative cooler or swamp cooler In dry climates, an evaporative or swamp cooler is a common option.

With a fan and water-soaked sponge or pad, air is blown by the fan through the pad, allowing the water-cooled air to blow into the room or the rest of the house. To cool the house and manage the temperature from room to room, you crack windows to allow the hot air to escape, leaving the cooled air.

, Advantage: With a fan and small amount of water use while running, a swamp cooler is much cheaper to operate than refrigerant air conditioning. You’ll be pleased with lower utility bills., Disadvantage: With water serving as a cooling factor, a swamp cooler, which is often installed on the roof, only works where humidity is low.

For example, at 50% relative humidity, you’re able to achieve around a 10-degree difference. The more humid the air is, the less effectively you’re able to cool., Cost: Home improvement network and information company Angi reports most swamp cooler installations cost between $1,500 and $3,700.

  1. There are some in-room evaporative cooler fans sold at home goods stores for as little as $130.
  2. Attic fan A slightly simplified version of a swamp cooler, an attic fan avoids humidity limitations and works best for areas or days when the weather outside isn’t too hot.
  3. It works simply by circulating air, pushing stuffy, warmer air out of the house and providing a consistent breeze inside.

With the right attic vents, the fan can be reversed to pull in cooler air through the house when the windows are open, expelling the hot, stuffy air out the attic vents., Advantage: With just a fan running, this alternative is a major cost-saver., Disadvantage: Without a cooling agent, an attic fan won’t make the air much cooler if temperatures rise above 80 degrees, but it can serve as a far more cost-effective alternative to central air conditioning to keep the house cool on days when it’s not too hot.

  • Cost: The cost to install an attic fan or whole-house fan typically ranges from $369 to $877, according to HomeAdvisor, while opting for high-end materials and installation it can reach $2,750.
  • Air cooling fan The simplest cooling option – a fan – is an effective solution for many, as it cools by increasing the air circulation in a room.

, Advantage: It’s a cheap and easy solution. A fan that sits low to the ground and is tilted upward may feel most effective because the coldest air in the room will be at the floor., Disadvantage: Unless it incorporates a mister, is a portable evaporative cooler or has an exhaust vent of some sort, a fan cannot take warmer air and make it cooler.

In a humid environment, the mister or evaporative cooling fans will only make the room more humid., Cost: Fans range in size and style – a simple table fan can cost $15 or less, while the popular and quiet Dyson bladeless air purifying fans start at $300. Geothermal heating and cooling Geothermal heating and cooling takes advantage of the more stable temperatures underground.

There’s a variety of geothermal systems to choose from, but they all largely function with liquid flowing through a system of buried tubes, exchanging heat from the house to the ground, and vice versa when the weather is cold., Advantage: A geothermal heat pump system is more energy-efficient than a traditional HVAC system, recouping the cost of installation in energy savings within five to 10 years, according to the Department of Energy.

Disadvantage: Installing one requires a lot of additional work due to the digging required to bury the pipes, which adds to the total cost of the project as well., Cost: HomeAdvisor reports the cost to install a geothermal heat pump system could be between $12,000 and $38,000, and can reach up to $43,000, including the equipment and excavation.

Here are six alternatives to traditional air conditioning:

Ductless or mini split air conditioner. Window unit or portable air conditioner. Evaporative cooler or swamp cooler. Attic fan. Air cooling fan. Geothermal heating and cooling.

Does roof coating reduce heat?

Waterproofing, or weather-proofing using SmartCare products not only strengthens the roofs and terraces inside out but also enables the surface to reflect maximum heat during peak summers due to superior product innovation techniques, unlike other similar products available in the market.

Where do I put ice and water on my roof?

Is Ice and Water Protector Always Necessary? – If you are installing a new roof, ice and water protector is not always compulsory. In many northern areas of the United States and Canada, ice and water protector is necessary and mandated by building codes.

In some southern states, building code authorities do not require ice and water protector. However, even where it is not mandated, ice and water protector offers many advantages to help protect your roof. Ice and water protector membrane is a superior choice over roof felt for leak protection when properly installed and paired with the right products.

Ice and water protector is part of a system working together to protect your roof, including the shingles and other underlayments. To learn more about water and ice protectors, or to have it installed on your roof, please visit our Contractor Locator to find a local roofer in your area.

© 2004-2022 IKO Industries Ltd., IKO Industries, Inc., and their affiliated and related entities. All rights reserved. The information on this website is subject to change without notice. IKO assumes no responsibility for errors that may appear on this website. IKO strives to accurately reproduce the screen images of the shingle swatches and house photos shown.

However, due to manufacturing variances, the limitations of your monitor resolution and the variation in natural exterior lighting, actual colors may vary from the images you see. To ensure complete satisfaction you should make final color selections from several full size shingles and view a sample of the product installed on a home.

How do you insulate a ceiling without removing it?

How Is Spray Foam Insulation Installed? – Spray foam insulation can be installed in two ways: via a pump or by spraying. The insulation is pumped to fill the cavity behind a drywall and for ceiling insulation it’s sprayed. No matter which installation method is used, the same magic happens when the spray foam hits the desired surface.

The spray foam immediately starts to expand, filling the cavity completely and covering the ceiling with a suitable coating of the foam. By undertaking both insulation projects at the same time, you make sure that your ceiling and walls are completely insulated without any cold spots forming. Heat won’t be able to escape anywhere near as easily and your home will start becoming easier to heat.

What this can lead to, overtime, is substantial savings on your energy bills. Your home will be more energy efficient, and it’ll also be quieter and less prone to problems like poor air quality. How To Reduce Heat In House Roof With a 5-star Trust Pilot rating and years of experiance in the home improvements industry, you can put your faith in our team to make sure that the job is done right the first time around

Why is my ceiling really hot?

3. Heat Pushing Down from the Roof Space – How To Reduce Heat In House Roof As your roof space heats up, heat is pushed down through the ceiling into your home. You may even feel this heat building up overhead. The heat from the sun is stored in your roof tiles and ceiling space. As this continues to heat your home, this stops your home from cooling down overnight and can make it very uncomfortable inside.

What is the cheapest way to insulate a ceiling?

What Is the Cheapest Way to Insulate a Garage Ceiling? – Reflective insulation and fiberglass insulation are the cheapest types of insulation at the moment. The cost of the former starts at around $0.60 per square foot together with installation. Fiberglass insulation is commonly chosen for insulating the garage ceiling. Read: How Much Does It Cost To Run A Gas Garage Heater?