You might have heard that worn-out roofing can affect your home’s energy efficiency, but not truly understand how. Essentially, since roofing acts as insulation and reflects or absorbs solar radiation, it plays a big role in how easy—or hard—it is to control your home’s interior temperature. However, it’s not just cut and dry.
Here are some of the factors that can reduce energy efficiency when roofing materials deteriorate or wear out:
- Diminished Insulation: Roofing materials, particularly those like shingles or tiles that have insulating qualities, aid in controlling the amount of heat that enters a building from the outside. These materials lose some of their insulating power over time because of weathering, moisture, or physical damage. Increased heat transfer may result from this, increasing the amount of energy needed for heating and cooling the structure by making it lose heat in the winter and gain heat in the summer.
- Enhanced Absorption of Heat: Damaged roofing materials may no longer effectively reflect sunlight. On sunny days, the attic and interior temperatures can rise as a result of the roof absorbing more solar radiation due to aging or damage-related discoloration or darkening. Known as the “heat island effect,” this can result in higher cooling loads during the summer months, as the HVAC system of the building has to work harder to keep the interior temperature pleasant.
- Structural Integrity: Roofs that leak or droop due to worn-out roofing materials could be structurally dangerous. These problems endanger not just the building’s general integrity but also its energy efficiency. Water leaks, for example, can harm structural elements and insulation, worsening energy inefficiency and perhaps necessitating expensive repairs or replacements.