Do Metal Roofs Make the House Hotter?

A lot of homeowners when they inquire about metal roofing ask the same question: Will a metal roof make my house hotter? The answer to that question depends on two main factors.

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​Metal Roof
Heat-Reflective Color & Coating

You want to choose a metal roofing material that is coated with a color or finish designed to reflect sunlight and heat. These coatings have high solar reflective indexes (SRI), which bounce heat off of the roof almost immediately. Unpainted metal roofing by itself will absorb a lot of heat, making your home hotter. As for the color, choose lighter colors like white or gray.

Studies have shown that painted white metal roofing can reflect up to 67% of solar rays. Compare that to your standard black asphalt shingle reflecting only about 5% of the sun's rays.
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Specimen	Reflectance
	Solar	Ultraviolet	Visible	Near Infrared
Black Single Ply	6.2	6.7	6.4	6.0
Gray Single Ply	23.1	13.5	27.2	20.2
White Single Ply	68.7	16.7	68.3	75.0
Smooth Bitumen	5.8	4.2	5.2	6.6
Black Shingles	5.0	4.6	5.3	4.8
White Fiberglass Shingles	25.3	9.9	27.0	25.2
Asphalt Shingle With Elastomeric Coating	71.4	16.7	80.0	69.1
White Fiber Cement Roofing Shingle	76.6	18.1	85.9	74.0
Painted White Metal Roofing	66.6	18.2	73.2	65.4
Red Cement Tile	17.6	7.0	13.1	23.1
White Concrete Tile (Barrel)	72.8	22.0	77.7	73.4

With that said, black metal roofing is trending right now in hot climate areas, and with the right cool paint finish, it can still reflect heat better than asphalt shingles.

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​Metal Roof
Attic Ventilation

When properly installed, the intake and exhaust vents in your attic will yield continuous airflow through your attic. This continuous airflow reduces heat and moisture buildup.

With standing-seam metal roofing, there are specific ventilation systems and materials that work best to keep the air moving in and out of the attic without penetrating the roof itself.

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CG Roofing is a Jacksonville, FL metal roofing company specializing in cool roofing technologies for metal roofing materials. Call us today for a free estimate.