Painting Your Roof This Color Could Save You A Ton On Energy Bills

The summer months have been hot, and are only getting hotter with each of the last 10 years going down as the hottest on record. This has led to increasing electric bills across the board as homes and businesses crank up the AC in an effort to keep inside spaces cool — bills that have become a huge burden on consumers struggling to keep up with the rising costs. If you're a resident of Atlanta, there may be some relief in sight. Recently, the city took a major step toward reducing temperatures and cutting energy costs by mandating "cool roofs", which requires that new roofs be painted white or use other reflective surfaces to fend off heat. At a time when there seems to be no end to rising electric bills — up an average of 17% in the U.S. over the last three years, per the Environmental Defense Fund — using Atlanta's strategy on your own home could provide some much-needed relief both in terms of temperatures and bank accounts.

Atlanta's recently passed legislation, which will eventually phase out dark, heat-absorbing roofing materials in the city, is expected to cool the city by as much as 6.3 degrees in the hottest neighborhoods. Plus, over the next 35 years, it is expected to save the city $310 million in energy costs while cutting millions of tons of carbon emissions. "This ordinance will save a lot of people a lot of money," said Steve Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, in a press release from the Atlanta City Council. He also added, "It is a technically brilliant, cost-effective strategy to protect Atlanta from rising heat and rising energy bills."

Atlanta isn't the only city embracing cool roofs. In Phoenix, the hottest urban area in the U.S., the city has already taken strides, painting more than 71,000 square feet of public building roofs — an effort that has helped save the city more than $100 million. Other cities on board to make cool roofs more mainstream include Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. If adopted nationally, light-colored roofs could save about 3% of the electricity generated from cooling. In states with the highest electricity bills, the cost savings for individual households could be significant. 

Compared with traditional, dark-colored roofs, which reflect about 15% to 20% of solar radiation, cool roofs typically reflect more than 50%.Once the world's whitest paint, revealed by Purdue University in 2023, hits the market, that percentage could go even higher – reflecting 98.1% of solar heat away from its surface and potentially creating more cooling power than most air conditioners. For flat or metal roofs, found on many commercial buildings and older homes, a white coat of paint is generally all that's needed to create a cool roof. For other roofs, however, there are shingles that can generate the same reflective effect. These cost the same (or less) to install than traditional shingles, making them another good low-cost solution to effectively reduce heat in your home. As an added perk, because they don't absorb the same amount of harsh sunlight, they can also last longer, which will save you even more money in the long run.