Most people can agree that the roof is the most important component of a home for several reasons. Aesthetically, a roof can make your home look better, more in line with other homes in your neighborhood, and, when you decide to sell, it can bring up your home’s resale value. For reasons of purpose, a roof not only keeps your home cool during the summer but warm during the winter and protects you and your family from weather.
For the most part, when homeowners need to replace their roof, they opt for shingles that will make their roof look attractive and uniform with the rest of their neighbors. However, they are ultimately missing out on other aspects of picking out a good roof like energy efficiency because, after all, what’s the point of having a nice roof if it eats into your wallet when the energy bill comes every month, right?
So, what kind of shingles can save you money on your energy bill? The answer is a little more complicated than you might think.
How Does Each Type Compare?
There is a wide variety of roofing materials to choose from including colors, types, and quality. Some are more efficient at reflecting light while others do a very poor job. So, what are the best ones and what are the worst? Let’s see.
The worst type of roofing materials you can choose are composite or asphalt shingles. They don’t offer a huge range of colors to choose from which can make being efficient pointless. The key to having an energy-efficient roof is to have a cool roof which means picking light colors because they do a better job at reflecting light rather than absorbing it (so black and dark brown are big no-nos). You might get lucky and find some light colors but the only solution you might get with these is applying a cool roof coating.
The best roofing materials to use include metal and tile roofing because of what they are made of. Metal has the best properties for reflecting light and heat. With concrete and ceramic tiles, the thermal resistance comes from the raw materials themselves which give them better reflective properties than, oh say, asphalt shingles.
Advantages and Disadvantages of an Energy-Efficient Roof
While energy efficiency in itself should be a good reason for having this type of roof, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t pros and cons of having it (just like with everything else.
The advantages of an energy efficient roof are somewhat self-explanatory. For one, you can save quite a bit of money every month on your electricity bill and spend less time standing in front of the thermostat or your A/C unit. Second, it extends the lifespan of your roof since excessive heat can greatly degrade your roof –– resulting in you making more calls to your Indianapolis roofing contractor for roofing repairs and replacements. Lastly, there is even more savings that can come your way through incentives and tax write-offs because, again, the government likes it when you are efficient and waste less.
There are also disadvantages to having an energy efficient roof. First, lighter colored roofing materials obviously get dirty quicker and depending on where you live, it can either be from pollution and smoke or from algae if you live in a damp area. Second, you have to worry about when winter comes. Since your roof provides a cooling effect during the summer, it won’t store as much heat energy that could be used during the winter months –– resulting in an increase in heating costs. Lastly, (and this one ties into the first reason), when shingles get dirtier, their ability to provide thermal resistance will also diminish with time.
Installing an Energy-Efficient Roof In Indianapolis
If you live in states where the summers can be increasingly brutal, it can be greatly beneficial to have your Indianapolis roofing contractor install an energy efficient roof. There are many types of roofing materials to choose from but the absolute best are tiles and metal roofing and, just like with anything else you invest money into, there are certainly pros and cons to having a cool roof.
Either way, when you are ready to make a decision on which roofing materials you are going to choose, make sure to shop around and find a high-quality roofing company to take care of your roofing needs. Some things you should look for include reliability, experience, price, and their customer service reputation. To start, you should try Jackson Contracting Inc. who appear to have a reputation for providing great roofing jobs for their clients.
