How Does Roof Color Affect the Temperature of Your House?

When you think about how roof color changes the temperature of your house, it helps to illustrate a basic law of thermodynamics. The amount of heat that enters a house, depends on how transparent the roof is. A roof with many different colors will make the temperature inside the house rise because you can’t see all of the roofs. However, if the roof has just a few colors, such as light green, you will feel the temperature drop because there is less light entering the house. Here is an example: If your house is painted a light green when it starts to rain, the roof becomes transparent and allows more rain to enter.

Now let’s take this a step further. How does this relate to how the temperature of the rain affects the temperature of the house? In general, the darker the color of your roof, the more water the air can hold. If you live in a greenhouse, the roof will absorb lots of water. This will increase the inside temperature of the house because more water is able to evaporate. However, this effect may not be as extreme as you think because if the roof is painted a dark color, such as black or gray, you might not see a big change in the temperature of your home.

The same applies when you compare how roof color affects the temperature with how it affects the rainfall. A black or gray roof absorbs lots of suns, which makes the temperature of the raindrops lower. However, if you paint the roof a light color, like white or beige, the roof will absorb plenty of sunlight so you will not see a big change in the temperature of your home. In fact, if you install a black or gray roof, you may barely even notice it.

Roof color also has a great impact on the insulation of your house. The darker the color, the more insulation is lost from the roofing material. You may know that black is cooler than the other colors, but the truth about paint is that it’s only a medium of conveying the cooler or warmer color to the insulation. If you install a light green roof, you will greatly reduce the loss of heat from your roof and your house will become much cooler in the summertime. Of course, if you install a white roof, the insulation will be somewhat effective, but they are not as effective as the black or gray roofs.

The final impact of how roof color affects the temperature of your house can be explained by physics. Basically, if you put a darker color on the outside of a structure, it reflects more sun. Thus, the cooler part of your house absorbs more heat. If you install a white roof, the sun’s rays are reflected into the house and the cooler parts are allowed to stay warm. Thus, you will be able to keep your house much cooler even in the hot summer months.

When you install new roofing, you must take into account how roof color affects the temperature of your house. Of course, there is an exception when you consider the black roof. Black roofs are considered a poor choice for insulating purposes.

This post was written by a roofing professional at KCG Roofing. KCG Roofing is a premier roofing contractor that does roofing in Venice Florida! KCG Roofing has the experience and expertise to replace or repair your roof with quality materials and excellent craftsmanship. All our roofs are backed by a 15-year leak-free guarantee, the highest in the industry. We have been family-owned and operated for over 40 years.