The color of your roof’s shingles plays a direct role in the ambient temperature of your home, but it’s not as black and white as you might think. Ambient temperatures throughout the day also affect the energy efficiency of the shingles of your home. Another aspect is the fact that Pennsylvania experiences four distinct seasons every year, which means the energy efficiency of your home’s shingles changes daily. Here’s a look at what you should take into consideration when you’re looking at a shingle roof replacement in Lehigh County, PA.
The Best Shingle Color for Energy Efficiency in Pennsylvania
Black shingles absorb the most heat, while light-colored shingles reflect more. However, shingles only actively absorb heat during the daytime when the sun is shining down on the roof of your home. Black shingles release more heat during the night and do so faster than light-colored shingles. What this means is if Pennsylvania experienced a moderate or hot climate, a cool or light-colored roof would make a lot of sense.
However, since Pennsylvania experiences snowfall and freezing weather patterns, a black roof is more effective. It absorbs sunlight and helps melt snow off the roof, as well as speed up water evaporation. The heat-absorbing aspect of dark colors creates a passive snow melt system to reduce the formation of ice dams that can damage your roof. Darker colors also help moderate temperatures inside the home and stabilize the energy bill during the winter.
All of this sounds like persuasive reasons to have dark-colored shingles installed during a shingle roof replacement in Montgomery County. The fact is, maintaining your home’s thermal envelope has become more advanced and easier than ever before with modern technology. You can achieve an energy-efficient home with both light and dark-colored shingles.
Choose Aesthetics & Energy Efficiency
The installation of light-colored shingles turns your roof into a cool roof. Lighter colors reflect light back into the atmosphere and stay cooler than a dark roof. The major drawback to the cool roof is the fact that you have to use more energy to heat your home in the winter. The trade-off from having a cool roof comes in the form of lower cooling bills and reducing the urban heat island effect that can change the local climate.
A roof with dark shingles doesn’t have the same level of energy efficiency in the summer. However, if you find that your heating bills are higher in the winter than in the summer, a dark roof can help reduce costs. Modern roofing underlayment materials also help reduce the amount of heat that enters and leaves the home and retain cooler air in the summer.
There are drawbacks to using dark shingles on the roof such as their tendency to break down more quickly. Darker colors absorb more UV rays than their lighter counterparts, which means they’ll fail sooner. High-quality shingles in dark colors are made to be more UV resistant and can last almost as long as their lighter color counterparts. A roof with dark shingles can last up to 20 years, while a light-shingled roof may last more than 20.
Contact Us at Ram Exteriors for More Information Today
Not sure what color and type of shingles you should put on your roof? Get in touch with us at Ram Exteriors to discuss your options. We understand how roofing materials behave in the local climate, and we can give you advice on what colors work best. We can schedule an appointment for an inspection of your roof and give you an honest evaluation of the work it needs, go over the options with you, and help you make a decision on the color of shingle that’s right for you and your home.