Roof shade: energy savings, heat mitigation
Experiment: measure roof temperature after installing a shade
When a roof has potential anchor points for a shade, it gets me interested in an experiment to install a sun shade and measure the temperature difference.
Easier to install on a flat roof, sure, for a simple test, though I’d be concerned about the wind and friction on the lower anchor points as it nears the rain gutter. Even if the roof shade functions well, it would need to be removed after the summer season, so that means at least two labor interactions for this project.
For a flat roof, my semi-permanent experiment would simply be to use rigid foam boards, and add 36 R of insulation, and test the roof surface temperature and interior ceiling temperatures. My goal would be to find out if this application would lower interior temeratures on the second floor enough to not need air conditioning. I would then test during the winter if the additional insulation is sufficient to retain the heat at a higher temperature and for a longer duration after turning off the boiler.
Author’s note: with enough data collection (I have a roof sensor to monitor solar radiation, wind, and rainfall) on the weather impact and comparing to internal property sensors, it might be fun to develop a model to accomodate satellite roof images so that I could plan for different types of roof structures. So far, I only have three years of sensor data for the property.