The high temperatures of late Spring through early Fall can play havoc with the integrity of your dark-colored roof shingles and can increase your cooling bills substantially — especially if your attic area is not insulated properly. On a windless, sunny day, the temperatures on a dark roof can reach 180 degrees Fahrenheit. This heat is transferred through the roof decking and into the room directly below causing your air conditioning system to work overtime to cool the living area down. In a newer home, there will be sufficient insulation in the rafters to slow down the heat transfer, but insulation alone will not fix the problem.
What Else Can Be Done?
If you are building a new home, these recommendations can be acted on during the construction process, however, if the home is older, renovations will take more time and money.
- Increase the depth of the insulation in the attic.
- Use a roof decking with a reflective backing.
- Install synthetic white roof tiles.
Why Are White Roof Tiles More Energy Efficient Than Dark Tiles?
The basic science involved is that dark colors absorb heat and white reflects it. The closer a color gets to black the more light it absorbs and therefore the more heat it absorbs. Basically, black appears black because it absorbs all colors, and white is visually created by reflecting all colors. In reflecting all colors, it is reflecting light energy and therefore, heat. Applying these principles to roof coverings, it is easy to see that a dark roof tile will be hotter than a white roof tile. There is another factor to take into consideration when planning for your energy-efficient roofing material: what material is the roof tile manufactured from? The most common material on the shingle market is asphalt. It is naturally black and therefore, naturally absorbs more radiant heat energy than lighter colors. Asphalt shingles are able to gain some reflectivity values by including lighter colors in the mica chips that make up the surface, but below that surface is black heat-absorbing asphalt. Composite synthetic roof tiles absorb less heat energy than asphalt-based roof shingles due to the lack of asphalt in their material composition. Therefore, a synthetic white roof tile or synthetic white clay roof tile will hold and transfer less heat to the house than a white asphalt shingle.
What Is A White Roof?
White roofs also called cool roofs, are so named because of their ability to reflect much of the Earth’s radiant heat waves. There are also cool roofs that are colored, but they do not stay as cool as white roof tiles because they do not reflect radiant heat as well. The cool colored roofs generally achieve their rating by adding a reflective coating to the surface of the roof tile. In addition to reflecting radiant heat, white roof tiles help keep your house cooler by emitting (giving off or releasing) up to 90% of their absorbed heat. This is something that an asphalt shingle cannot accomplish, regardless of its surface color, because the asphalt base, being black, absorbs heat and will transfer it to the house below.
What Are The Best Choices For White Composite Roof Tiles?
Brava Spanish Barrel White Roof Tile
Brava Roof Tile manufactures the only Class C fire-rated white composite barrel tile on the market. The tile is smooth to the touch which increases its reflective properties, can be washed as needed, and will not weather. In addition, the shape of the barrel tile increases the amount of air that flows around it and improves its ability to release any absorbed heat to the atmosphere above instead of to the roof below. Brava’s Spanish Barrel white roof tiles imitate the look of clay tiles, but have the following advantages:
- Less expensive to install
- Do not require additional structural support in the roof because they are lighter
- No need for roofing specialists or specialized equipment to install
- Less costly to maintain
- Eco-friendly — made from 100% recycled material
- Have a 50-year limited warranty
Since they are considered a cool white roof, Brava’s barrel tiles are a great roofing solution for both residential and commercial applications. They also carry a Class 4 impact rating with 188+ mph wind resistance with ring shank nails — the highest in the industry.
Brava Synthetic Cedar Shake White Roof Tile
Perhaps the architecture of your home can’t accommodate the Spanish barrel tile look. You are building a cottage-style home and need a white roof tile in a cedar shake design. Brava Roof Tile has the perfect product for you. Due to their ability to produce a synthetic cedar shake in almost any color, Brava can provide a cool white color for your cedar shake roof that will outperform a natural wood shingle and provide the following:
- Class 4 impact rating — the highest in the industry
- Class A and C fire ratings
- No breakage or special tools needed for installation
- Tile that is made from 100% recycled material
- Can be recycled and used again
- Manufactured in 3 widths to mimic natural cedar shake
- Twice as thick as any other composite shake on the market
- Has a 50-year limited warranty
Do You Want Top Quality Synthetic Roof Tiles?
Our composite roof tiles are manufactured to strict industry standards and we only use accredited labs for our testing. We manufacture the following synthetic roof tiles:
- Cedar Shake
- Spanish Barrel Tile
- Old World Slate
Our tiles easily achieve Class C fire ratings but can be rated as Class A with the proper underlayment. We can match almost any solid color and can also produce color variations that go through the entire tile. If your roof has more than one style of roof tile, we can match the color in all of the tiles, guaranteeing a perfect look across your entire roof.
At Brava, we want you to experience professional customer service on the phone or on our website, where you will find helpful videos, PDFs, and suggestions. Call us today for free roof samples to experience our quality first-hand and see why Brava Roof Tiles should provide your next roof.
