Aluminum foil roof?

[j12piprius]

Originally Posted by Ford Man

The foil was placed on the roof underneath the new metal roof a few weeks ago.

What kind of metal roof do you have, and what color?

Did you install it yourself?

I'm interested to see what indoor temperature change you see with the metal roof and radiant barrier foil.

[Ford Man]

Originally Posted by johnlvs2run

What kind of metal roof do you have, and what color?

Did you install it yourself?

I'm interested to see what indoor temperature change you see with the metal roof and radiant barrier foil.

I didn't install the radiant barrier on the roof, nor did I install the new roof myself. I ordered the radiant barrier myself and picked out the roof material and had a friend that is a contractor install it for me. The color of the metal roof is burgundy, but the radiant barrier is about an inch below the metal roof so most of the heat the burgundy roof absorbs is lost in the 1" air space, reflected off the radiant barrier and is vented out from between the metal and the sub roof. Even though we've still be seeing outdoor highs during the daytime of 80-85* most days we haven't needed the a/c for the last 2-3 weeks. We've had a couple windows open and stayed comfortable. I also placed R-13 insulation and radiant barrier to the inside walls and ceiling of my garage, which I did do myself. I'm really not sure how much temperature difference the radiant barrier made to this garage, because I installed it shortly after having it built, but at the previous home we had in NC when I installed radiant barrier to the walls and ceiling of that garage without any other insulation it probably lowered the interior temperature by at least 10-20* on a 95-100* day. This summer when I would go into the garage it was warm, but I could tolerate the heat without any problem. The exterior of the garage is tan metal also with a burgundy roof. This summer has been a really hot summer for this area and I kept the house (1400 sf.) at about 75*, our highest electric bill was about $112. and the next highest was about $100. During the winter the radiant barrier also helps to reflect the heat back into the house preventing some heat loss thought the roof. When I got the barrier and new roof on the house it was late winter, but I could tell a difference in how well the house held heat after it was installed. If I ever have to have the siding on the house replaced I'm going to wrap the wall with radiant barrier before the new siding goes on. We live in a 1400 sf modular home and my mom lives in a 1400 sf stick built brick home with more insulation than we have, but she doesn't have radiant barrier. This summer our house was cooler than mom's and the electric bills were about $30.-$40. less per month than her's. The cost of the radiant barrier was $345. (including what was used on the garage) and the person who rolled it onto the roof and fastened it down charged me $100. more than he was going to charge just to put the roof on, so I'd say with savings associated with a/c and heat the pay back will probably be in the 1-2 year range.

[Chris Logan]

Hey, guys...

<- New poster on the forum, but I've been lurking for a while.

During the summer, I fielded a quote from Home Depot's contracting team to add insulation to my house. (It does need it.) But one of the products they offered was a radiant barrier across the joists in the attic.

I asked to see some of the material, and my suspicions were confirmed when the guy handed me a little square of alumanized mylar.

What is aluminized mylar???? Space Blankets are aluminized mylar.

I laughed a little and never got back to him. A few months back, we had a rare Colorado hailstorm and everyone in my neighborhood got their roofs replaced. I found a contractor that agreed to put material that I provided under the new roof.

It got cold before I could test it in hot weather... But it took 20 hours for the house to decrease from 67 to 61 in 40 degree weather the other day... Compared with 6 hours 67-60 before the new roof. (The new girl is a little less than understanding when I mess with the temp in the house.)

All in all, I feel confident about the additional hassle... Especially since the total cost of the space blankets that I provided the contractors was sub-$100 for approx 2000ft^2 of material, purchasing them in bulk on amazon.

[sid]

My concern is how the space blankets hold up at attic temperatures over time. My experience is that some of them lose their reflectivity with time.

The radiant barrier material I have in my attic is paper with a thin aluminum coating on one side. I also suspect the paper has a fire retardant in it. It has been up there for at least 20 years with no noticeable change in reflectivity.

Which brings up another potential problem with space blankets: No fire retardant.

[Chris Logan]

Mylar loses reflectivity when it's being bent and rubbed. But once it's in a static installation, it doesn't. Hence it's use as satellite insulation.


As far as fire retardation:

I think you should google that, just to be sure.

[joyee]

Hi Dear,

Yes this is the durable roof and in my home i have installed to this, But now there is a problem in my aluminum roof. But still i like to it

Custom Stadium Cups

[Ford Man]

Thought it was time for another update on the radiant barrier. The heat I use in our home (1400 SF) is a Monitor Vented Kerosene unit. These are very efficient heaters and I've been using them for about 16 years. I used one in my home in the Charlotte, NC area without radiant barrier before moving to KY. The heated area was about 1000 SF and I usually averaged 125-150 gallons of kerosene use per winter. This winter in a 1400 SF home with colder KY temperatures with the radiant barrier installed on the roof we used 85 gallons of kerosene to heat all winter. I enjoy heating all winter for what my neighbors were paying each month for electric heat. So using an average of 137.5 gallons normally used in our NC home apposed to 85 gallons and heating an extra 400 SF of space at a price of $4. per gallon for kerosene the savings was $210. on heating for the winter. I also suspect the electrical savings for the a/c last summer was $30-$40 per month. We usually use the a/c about 4 months of the year so using an average savings of $35. a month in a/c the cooling savings would be $140. per summer. Last summer our highest electric bill was $112. and that was with several days that month being around 100* with a heat index of 110-120*. Using those figures I figure the payback for the material $345. and an additional $100. in labor added to my metal roof installation for rolling it out and fastening it down the payback is going to be less than 1.5 years. At current heating and cooling cost figuring the material will last at least 20 years installed underneath the metal roof the savings after payback will be $6555., not bad for a $445. investment, much better than putting it in a certificate of deposit at the current rate of about 1% return. I wish I had a way of putting radiant barrier on all the walls underneath the exterior siding for even more savings, but that won't be done unless I eventually have to have the house re-sided. The cost of radiant barrier material at current prices to do the exterior walls would only be about $250. and I'm pretty sure the payback would be a year or less. After seeing the energy savings with radiant barrier on the roof alone if I were building a new house I'd have it on the roof, floor joist, and walls.

In the all metal exterior garage I used R-13 insulation in the walls covered with radiant barrier on the inside and radiant barrier alone on the bottom of the trusses, in the winter it's warm enough to work in the garage without heat and in the summer the temperature is cool enough you can stand to work in it without having a heat stroke. I had the radiant barrier alone in my garage in NC and could work in it late night (1:00-2:00 AM) in the middle of the winter without heat. A few times when I'd first start working in it I'd start a portable 10K BTU kerosene heater to knock off the chill, but would have to turn it off in about 5-10 minutes, because I'd be sweating and would work for several hours without ever starting the heater back up.

In case anyone is interested in buying any radiant barrier here's a link to the cheapest price I could find when I bought mine. Texas Heat Management Online Store The price has increased since I bought mine, but is still cheaper than most other suppliers were selling it for at the time of my purchase. I had several different companies send me samples and all the materials were the same weight and strength just different brands. When I bought mine the price also included free shipping, I'm not sure whether they still offer that or not.

[radioranger]

I would go for two fans in the attic and a lighter roof color , even light tan might look good, will defintiely help. foil wont last .

[Ford Man]

Originally Posted by radioranger

I would go for two fans in the attic and a lighter roof color , even light tan might look good, will defintiely help. foil wont last .

Not trying to be argumentative, but I think the foil will last as long as the metal roof. It was in my garage in NC for 11 years before we moved with no signs of deterioration. This is very strong material which has fiber mesh interwoven into the material to give it strength. It can't be torn by hand.

[Nerys]

Ford Man. he is talking about Kitchen Aluminum Foil. IE the stuff you can "BLOW" a hole through with your mouth.

Wish I could convince my pop to go with a white roof. he flat out said no. adamant. Period.

even just doing the "backside" that you can not see from the street would likely have a huge impact on energy costs but he says no.