How Heat Reflective Roof Coatings Can Slash Your Summer Energy Bills in Australia

With the Australian summer ramping up, so to is the struggle of how to keep our homes cool without blowing out our energy bills. An ever-growing popular alternative is the use of heat reflective roof paint spray, a unique paint material that can greatly minimize the amount of heat held by the roof. This new concept not only improves indoor comfort but also leads to the reduction of energy consumption in air conditioning leading to the reduction in electricity bills.

Most conventional roofing materials, especially in darker colors, absorb a significant amount of solar radiation. This absorbed heat then gets translated to the building’s interior, causing a difference of a few degrees inside. On a hot summer day, the temperature of some roof surfaces can exceed 70 C. This then means greater stress on your air conditioning units as they run over time to retain a pleasant indoor atmosphere.

The problem of a heat trapping roof is taken care of by heat reflective roof coatings (cool roof coatings). These include reflective pigments that reflect visible, infrared and ultraviolet (component) rays – the three primary solar radiation components. The best products on the market can bounce more than 80% of solar radiation. You can literally feel how much cooler the rooms in your home are, thanks to these coatings which lower the body temperature of the roof by several degrees.

Use of a heat reflective roof paint spray To save power, use of a heat reflective roof paint spray. Based on reports by the Australian Government and CSIRO, homes with cool roof coatings could realize around 15 percent savings in cooling energy use in peak summer months. The actual savings will depend on factors such as roof type, insulation levels, colour and orientation but the reduction is often great enough that the upfront investment is recouped in just a few years. The numbers get even more compelling in commercial buildings that have expansive flat roof surface areas.

The technology behind these paints is being highly solar reflectance and thermal emittance. Solar reflectance (on a scale from 0 to 1) is a measure of how much sunlight the surface reflects. A typical dark roof may have a solar reflectance of 0.10 and a light, coated roof can have values in excess of 0.70. Thermal emittance is a measure of the capacity of a surface to emit absorbed heat. Good coatings are both highly reflective and have high emittance, for good heat gain and cooling down.

Other than reducing your energy bills, a heat reflective roof paint spray will make your roof last longer. Continuous exposure to heat causes roofing materials to age and deteriorate, causing cracks, warping, and leaks. In lowering the surface temperature, reflective coatings minimize thermal stress and UV damage to help extend the life of the roof. This renders them a two-for-one solution –improving comfort, whilst extending the life of your roof.

Furthermore, these coatings are in line with greater environmental objectives. By decreasing the requirement for air conditioning, they also decrease the load on the outlets, which can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Heat-Reflective Roof: When used extensively across cities, heat-reflective roofing can also address the urban heat island effect, a phenomenon where city temperatures are above average compared to rural areas nearby, because of heavy infrastructure and heat sinks in the city.

Heat reflective roof paint spray is easy to apply but surface preparation is key. Roof surface must be clean, completely dry, and free of any previous applied coatings or damage. Usually, an acrylic based or elastomeric coating is the product of choice, and it is applied in more than one coat to ensure maximum coverage. Professional installation time can be as little as a couple of days, depending on the product and weather.

It should also be remembered that heat reflective coatings are part of the solution when trying to achieve maximum home energy efficiency, and should be considered as such. If matched with good insulation, ventilation and shading, you will get the best of both worlds: good comfort and lower energy bills.

To end on, heat reflective roof paint spray coatings can redefine what is possible when it comes to cost and practicality of bringing the heat in Australia down. These coatings have a two fold benefit by decreasing the roof surface temperature, decreasing heat gain/cost, and decreasing energy use. Whether you want to save the environment, your roof or cut back on energy bills – installing a heat reflective product is a great step forward. And with Australian summers continuing to become hotter and less predictable, the choices you make when it comes to your roof have never been so important.