Asphalt roofing can’t change its nature.
May 27, 2021
Here on Oahu, the sun always generates heat. Kauwla delivers extra heat. Remember the feeling of heat from a boiling asphalt driveway? With bare feet, children quickly learn that you won’t scorch your feet if you run fast enough.
Asphalt can’t change its nature when it comes to heat.
Asphalt gets hot, and although the asphalt on that driveway isn’t the same as the kind in your shingles, they both absorb and transfer heat, unfortunately efficiently. The sun is unkind to asphalt shingles, wearing them down, bleaching them out, and sometimes causing them to split and crack.
With temperatures on the rise, asphalt shingles bake, releasing their heat into your attic and then through the rest of your home. As a result, you must run the air conditioning more often to contest the heat coming in from up top. Unfortunately, even with adequate attic ventilation, asphalt can’t change its nature when it comes to heat.
What difference does a cool metal roof make?
Now, let’s compare a metal roof’s summer performance to what we’ve seen so far from asphalt. At first, you might think metal gets hot, and it does. Just like that awful metal slide on the playground that would sear your backside as you flew down it, metal does absorb heat too.
The difference is the finish—the specialized coatings of our metal roofing products aid in reflecting heat instead of absorbing it. The coatings are formed on the metal with layers of primer and paint over the metal’s substrate.
Special coatings like these last for upwards of 50 years, and some with extra layers last even longer. Different coatings affect reflectivity differently, with lighter colors more efficient than darker ones. By reflecting heat, metal roofs reduce the effect of radiant heat from the sun.
Asphalt doesn’t have this kind of protection and will start to wear down and lose color from prolonged exposure to the sun, not something you want from your roofing material.
Additional Heat Reduction and Energy Savings
Aluminum Shake Roofing solutions use integral airspace to limit conductive heat and proper ventilation to combat convective heat. This solution can drastically affect the heat of your home.
Your savings can be hundreds of dollars a year, all from choosing the right roof. We’ve even found that our roofs can extend air conditioner life by reducing the time they need to run.
Are you ready for a cool metal roof?
Don’t let the sun burn your energy dollars. We’re here to help with beautiful, sustainable, and durable roofing solutions for your Oahu home. Check out our video on the coolest roof in Hawaii.