How to Keep Home Cool in Summer With Roof Insulation?

Summers can be troublesome especially if your roof is not insulated. The roof and building stay exposed to the scorching heat of the Sun and get heated. This heats the room which takes longer to cool. The roof is made up of concrete which is a dense material, meaning doesn’t cool down easily. When the day begins to cool, the heat from the roof and walls radiates in the rooms. When the fan is switched on, the hot air from the roof circulates the hot air in the room. But do not worry, this something that you can mend. You can treat the roof and reduce the heat experience with roof insulation service.

Remedies to Reduce Heat in your Home

Prepare a shade for your roof

Sometimes the Sun’s heat can be strong and unbearable and that is when finding a shade helps. Sometimes when we are out in the Sun, we try to find shade under a tree or park our cards under shade to prevent it from absorbing the heat. This can similarly be done to roofs. If the roof gets heated with the scorching Sun, you can treat it using canvas, Mangalore Tiles, or GI sheet. The roof absorbs less heat due to the shadow. This treatment also allows us to use that space for gatherings.

Pergolas can be used to create the shade and growing creepers around the pergolas widen the shade. To shade the roof always use plants. They don’t get heated, unlike a tin roof. A terrace garden can also reduce the heat in your home.

Top insulation

Terrace gardens are heat absorbers and a great way to reduce heat at home. They shade the roof and the earth acts as an insulator. The wet mud is an additional help to cool the roof. Another thing commonly used for insulation is weatherproof clay panels. They are covered with cement mortar and placed on a concrete roof. They do not retain heat.

Another alternative is foam concrete panels. The sponge prevents the transfer of heat to the roof slab.

Some also prefer to use gravel to prevent the roof from heating up. A 40 mm gravel can be laid on the roof. They are polygonal that reduces their contact with the roof and reduces the transfer of heat. At night it reverses the hot air to cool air. The only drawback is it can make it difficult to walk on the terrace.

In places of extreme heat in India, especially Rajasthan they paint their terraces with white lime. This acts as a good reflector of heat.

False Ceilings

In buildings that are a work in progress, insulation can be built on the roof. Lightweight foam concrete panels are used to fill in the roof. They are also known as filler slab roofs.

The advantages are – there is less consumption of concrete, the structural load is reduced, and the heat retained by the roof is under control.

Single-ply Membranes

PVC (polyvinyl chloride), TPO (thermoplastic polyolefin) are the most common kind of single-ply membranes. They are used for low sloping roofs that can cool it down. They come with pre-existing solar reflectors or materials. They are rolled up on the roof attached with adhesives, mechanical fasteners, and gravels.

Tar

It is also referred to as built-up roofing. It is the most inexpensive and easy to apply and repair form of roofing treatment to reduce heat at home. This process requires a layer of bitumen or asphalt with another layer of gravel, rock, or granules.

Tar is usually black or grey and absorbs more heat. This can be altered by placing marble chips on its surface to reflect the heat and light. Later, to convert the roof into a cool roof special pigments are added to an asphalt surface.

Full Article is originally published at Neothermalinsulation Blog