Cool Roof Coatings
Check out our store for energy conservation books and online training for energy auditors and other job skills.
Residential Energy 5th Edition
$45.00
Consumer Guide to Home Health
$12.00
Homeowners Handbook to Energy Efficiency
$24.95
One of the best ways to slow this heat flow into your mobile home is to install a white elastomeric “cool roof” coating. Metal mobile home roofs are easy to re-coat. In fact many homeowners do so every few years to assure their roof’s longevity and watertightness. You can apply a cool roof coating when your mobile home next needs to be re-coated, or you could do it right away to reap immediate benefits. Many homeowners note that their home is cooler the same day that a cool roof coating is applied.
Cool roof coatings can be applied by brush or roller, just like traditional black or silver asphalt coatings. Their performance is superior to these coatings, though, since their reflectivity (ability to reflect the sun’s heat), and their emissivity (ability to release the roof’s heat) is far greater. To assure that your cool roof coating adheres properly, the roof surface should first be washed, and any loose previous coatings scraped away. Since cool roof coatings are water-based, they should be applied when no rain is expected for at least one day. Above all else, follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Once you have a cool roof coating on your mobile home, and you appreciate the difference in summertime comfort, you’ll never go back to the old-fashioned coatings.
Roof coatings vary greatly in quality and price. You want a roof coating that will last a long time, but if your air conditioner runs a lot during the summer, you also want the most reflective roof coating. Many readers are familiar with the common aluminized asphalt roof coating. This roof coating sticks to almost anything and is easy to install over any asphalt or metal roof. The quality and cost of this coating varies according to the amount of aluminum particles added to each 5-gallon bucket. It’s essential to keep stirring this coating while installing it so that you don’t end up with a mound of expensive aluminum at the bottom of the bucket when you’re finished. The aluminized asphalt reflects around 60% of incoming solar heat initially but that drops to below 40% as the tacky surface collects dust.
The bright white latex roof coatings are more reflective than the aluminized asphalt coatings, reflecting 70% or more of solar heat. They can save 10% to 20% on air conditioning costs. Like paint, the latex coatings’ quality varies by the amount of solids in the mix.
Latex coatings are fussier about cleaning and preparation than asphalt coatings. Choose the best quality latex coating because it will have better adhesion than cheaper varieties and will be less likely to fail. If you are installing the latex coating over asphalt material, you’ll probably need to apply a special primer before applying the latex coating.
