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Ultra-White Paint Reflects Light; Could Replace A/C

Thrillbilly Jim

Thrillbilly Jim

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The wording in these articles always makes me laugh. It’s misleading for sure. I’ve been using a similar product on our buildings for years. It helps it stay cooler, but we are still using AC.
 
Rod Dunlap said:
Paint your roof with it and it works better than air conditioners?

Please send to AZ!!!!!
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I was thinking the same thing as I read the article - let's see how it works in late June when it's 122°F out here, I doubt it's going to be replacing my A/C unit! :LOL:
 
Wonder how well it works after the usual dirt, pollen, and such that would leave the surface dirtier. Would this lesson the usefulness of the product?
 
Can it help, absolutely - will it replace AC I don't think so.
 
The air outside your house will always be hot, this paint won't change that. So if your house is surrounded by hot air, you will still need A/C. Will the paint help, I'm sure it will, but it will not replace A/C.
 
Golfers Anonymous said:
Wonder how well it works after the usual dirt, pollen, and such that would leave the surface dirtier. Would this lesson the usefulness of the product?
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The stuff we use works pretty good. It’s very easy to hose off. However all of our buildings are more of a slight slope flattish roof. The downside is it’s very reflective so you have to wear dark glasses. They claim 19 degrees cooler I’d say that’s pretty good but in high temps still gonna need ac.
 
White paint to make my house more AC efficient? Not if my HOA has anything to say about it!
 
Another issue is the heat reflected off white, including white roofs like TPO can make roof top equipment hotter. It's not like things will start exploding and become a feature in a Michael Bay movie, but it can affect sensitive materials a few feet above the roof surface. This was mentioned by a roofing manufacturer I worked with on a project. Roofers would have to be careful when installing white roofs since they could over heat more easily due to the reflection.
 
we get 100 degree highs in summer and below zero in winter. need some kind of super duper paint that changes!
 
I met a guy 30+ years ago at a trade show that said he invented this. He had 2 blocks, one with regular white paint and one with the reflective paint. He had a heat lamp or something hovering above each block and then had the surface temp of each being monitored - huge difference. I think I saw some years later that he had a huge contract to put them on school buses all over the country.
 
gkeller813 said:
The air outside your house will always be hot, this paint won't change that. So if your house is surrounded by hot air, you will still need A/C. Will the paint help, I'm sure it will, but it will not replace A/C.
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dAS0 said:
Another issue is the heat reflected off white, including white roofs like TPO can make roof top equipment hotter. It's not like things will start exploding and become a feature in a Michael Bay movie, but it can affect sensitive materials a few feet above the roof surface. This was mentioned by a roofing manufacturer I worked with on a project. Roofers would have to be careful when installing white roofs since they could over heat more easily due to the reflection.
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It's not just white reflective roofing products when it comes to the workers. Even icf walls can blind, burn, and basically cook the guys from reflection. Where you save on some materials in the end you're often paying a little more for install of hyperreflective ones to start, because of it. Some reflective roofs are definitely tough. No matter how much you keep after them, someone inevitably takes their glasses off, or gloves, and shortly after is on the ground with a splitting headache or some kind of burn. And as most require you to be in near proximity of it to install, the heat is constant. It definitely slows the pace.
 
The thing is in my area of the US a white roof would hurt us in the winter time. At peak times the AC doesn't cost any more than the heat does at peak times. There needs to be a balance and IMO a white reflective roof would not help. Now if there was a cost effective way to change the colors during seasons that would be something to look into.
 
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