If the time has come to replace your home's old shingled roof, you may already be making plans to have the installation done. If one of the issues you have in your home during the summer months is heat coming through the roof and making your air conditioning system work harder, you may want to consider extending these plans to include other options. Below are a couple of available options you should consider adding to your new shingled roof that can help keep your home cooler in the summertime.

1. Insulation Between the Decking and Shingles Traps Air and Keeps It from Flowing Through the Roof and into Your House

One option you may want to consider adding when installing a new roof on your house is insulation. Roofing insulation is installed between the plywood decking and the shingles where it creates pockets of air.

When the weather gets hot outside and the sun's rays bear down on the roof, the heat becomes trapped in these pockets. This helps to keep the majority of the heat from flowing through the roof and into your home, which keeps the air inside cooler. 

2. Light-colored Shingles Sealed with a Silicone Coating Helps Reflect Sunlight and Prevent Heat from Penetrating Them

Another option you should consider when installing a new roof is using light-colored shingles that reflect light rather than absorb it like their darker counterparts. Along with selecting a light color for the shingles, you may want to also have them coated with a silicone roof-cooling coating.

When the shingles are sealed with silicone coating, it creates a barrier through which heat has difficulty penetrating. Along with the silicone material for the coating and the lighter color of the shingles, the roof will also be able to more easily reflect the ultraviolet rays of the sun to help keep your home cooler.

If you live in an area where the summer heat is intense and you need a new roof, take the opportunity to have additional options installed along with the shingled roof to help keep your home cooler. Such options as having insulation installed under the shingles and having light-colored shingles coated with silicone can help keep the heat from penetrating the roof as well as reflect the sun's rays. For more information about these and other options, speak with a roofing contractor when it comes time to discuss putting a new roof on your home.

For more information on roofing, contact a professional near you.