The Biggest Mistake American Homeowners Make: Dark Shingles

The biggest mistake that 90% of American homeowners make is putting a dark colored shingle on their roof. Scientific studies reveal that different color shingles absorb and reflect different amounts of heat. White shingles will conduct less and reflect more heat, whereas black shingles will contain and absorb the most heat.

Almost every consumer knows that black socks or dark shirts will absorb more heat versus lighter colors. Since most people realize this basic concept I have trouble comprehending why 90% of the buildings in our nation have dark colored roofs. Putting a black roof on your home or building is not the smartest thing you could do.

It is common knowledge that colors affect us differently. White colors elevate us while dark colors depress us. Every morning when I get up I pull the curtains and let the light shine in. I want to be happy and feel good. When I poke my head outside to see what's going on in the world I like to see white color roofs versus their depressing counterparts. Are these dark colored roofs contributing to the epidemic of depression in our nation?

Roof heat transfer is the process of transferring the almost 200-degree roof temperatures into your attic. Attics can reach temperatures over 140 degrees. This heat creates moisture that falls to your attic floor on your insulation. This moisture causes your insulation to become less effective and this heat then sinks into your home. Insulation slows and prevents some of the heat transfer into your home but I can assure you it never stops this heat transfer. This heat then causes you're A/C unit to work. The hotter your roof gets, the harder and longer your air conditioning unit needs to run. The more your air-conditioning unit runs, the shorter it's lifespan becomes. Roof heat transfer is a term every American should become aware of.

A white roof will reflect 30% of solar heat gain versus a black roof. Some people claim that a dark roof is better in colder climates. Although I am still doing research in this area, I believe they could be wrong. I haven't found any studies yet that prove this theory.

Something every American should realize is that yes we have a shortage of oil, but we have even less natural gas. Years ago when oil wells were drilled it was common for oil producers to find gushers. Gushers were caused by the pressure from natural gas that pushed the oil to the surface. There is normally more oil than natural gas in every case. If no natural gas exists, oil producers have to install pumps to suck the oil out. You rarely hear of any large deposits of oil and almost never hear about gushers. When you hear about the shortage of oil, this should alarm you when you consider natural gas and your electric bill.

Most of our electric plants run on natural gas. It will take decades to build alternative power plants. Environmentalist don't want pollution causing coal plants built and most Americans are resistant to having a Chernobyl nuclear plant in their back yard. Since no other solutions are rapidly approaching, conservation is a necessity. We need to do everything we can to lower our consumption of electric power and natural gas.

Many people get very upset when the price of gasoline rises. Buildings use far more natural resources than our automobiles. If you conserve energy in your home it will have a direct effect on demand and prices for other petroleum products.

If you are the manager of a business that has buildings you are doing a great disservice to our nation and your company by installing a dark colored roof. Your job is to save your business money. The more money you make for your business, the more money you will make. Dark colored tar roofs are petroleum- based so you are contributing to our demand for foreign oil. It is not only unwise it is un-American.

If you are the Grand Pu Ba of a homeowner association that insists every home in the neighborhood has a dark colored roof to match, you need to alter your antiquated by-laws.

I like to think that environmentalist are leading the nation by example and informing others as well as themselves how to conserve our natural resources. They would gain a lot more credibility by doing so.

Anti-war protestors should realize the war revolves around oil. If you sincerely want this war to subside you should do your part to prevent our dependence on other nations. Chances are very high that WW III will arise over natural resources and the need of.

The lower gasoline prices are just temporary and will surely rise after the elections. People who believe they can complain and the government will force oil companies to lower prices are deluding themselves. The only way that could happen is if we threw out our present form of government and converted to a socialist country. We live in a capitalist society and supply and demand will dictate prices. Since there is an ever-increasing shortage of natural resources prices will continue to reach higher. Our only choice is to consume less and constantly search for alternative energy.

Conserving our natural resources is truly a matter of national security.