DOES THE COLOR OF YOUR ROOF MATTER?

Does The Color Of Your Roof Matter?

When you’re building a home or just upgrading your older home, your roof is an important investment. If you’re planning to put on a new roof, you already know that there are a lot of considerations to make, from which roofing sheets you’ll choose to find the right roofing contractor/Fundi to deciding when is the best time to have the project completed. But is the color of your roof something you need to think about, too? Here’s what you need to know about the importance of your roof’s color:

Truth

Honestly, not really. There’s a lot of information out there about what color of the mabati you should buy depending on what climate you live in. Different lifespans of different colors, and how energy efficient you’d like for your home to be. While we’ll break this info down for you in this article, it’s important to know that today’s roofing sheets (Both Aluzinc and galvanized) are made with the most advanced technology the market’s ever seen. Any difference in performance will be due to the color coating procedures; which the manufacturers can control.

That said, we’ll give you a rundown of what you’ve likely heard, what’s true, and what information you can ignore.

Charcoal Grey/Black Vs. Light Roofing Sheets

If you’ve already done a bit of research, you’ve probably heard that light-colored roofing sheets are best for warm climates, while dark roof shingles are better for cooler climates. At face value, this does make some sense. Darker colors absorb more heat, and warmer roofs make it easy for roof sediments to slide right off. Lighter colors reflect sun rays, keeping roofs cooler.

But, given today’s technology, the lightness or darkness of your roofing sheets doesn’t have all that much to do with the energy efficiency of your home. What’s more likely to have a bigger impact on your roof’s efficiency is the quality of the roofing material you choose.

When examined side by side, light and black roofing sheets from a high-quality roof manufacturer only provide about two degrees of temperature difference. That’s not a given enough difference to make a noticeable impact on the comfortability of your home, or the cost of your energy bills.

What’s More Important Than The Color Of My Roofing Sheets?

Like we mentioned above, the quality of your roofing sheets is more important than the color of your roof. If you’re shopping for a new roof, make sure you choose high-quality roofings sheets which are licensed by a KEBS.

Normally KEBS recommends a standard Aluzinc color coating of 75g/m2. This is what dictates the lifespan of your roof color. The higher the coating grams per meter square, the longer the lifespan and vice versa is true.

For example, here at Imarisha Mabati, we’re proud to hold the highest mass coating of up to 88g/m2 making our products the most durable in East Africa.

Choosing A Shingle Color That Complements Your Home

What’s most important when it comes to choosing a roof color is really how it will go with the rest of your home.

In the end, it doesn’t matter too much to your wallet what color your roof is, so long as you get the best quality, your roof is well insulated and ventilated you are good to go.