Radiant Barrier Roof Decking Worth It

The answer is that there are other things you can do that would be more effective in terms of energy efficiency.

Radiant barrier roof decking worth it.

The extra cost to put the radiant barrier roof sheathing on a 2000 square foot new home is probably around 200. Radiant barrier paint performed the worse providing a heat decrease in the conditioned space of around 19. A radiant barrier works best when it is perpendicular to the radiant energy striking it. However radiant barriers can also be installed in other ways such as having it infused with your roof decking or underneath tiles.

Specifications in selecting your radiant barrier sheathing make sure that the label indicated that the productemittance is less than 0 1 as measured by astm 1371. A cooler attic space means less heat moving to the cooler space below the attic. For a picture of this in action you can check out the product listing on amazon. The results were very telling.

A radiant barrier must have an emissivity of 0 1 or less to be effective. There is a misconception that if the heat is coming in through the roof shingles and. There s no extra labor because they have to put the roof deck on anyway and the decking with radiant barrier adhered to it as shown in the photo above runs about 2 per sheet more than regular osb that flaky plywood called. When utilizing osb radiant barrier sheathing you can reflect up to 97 of solar radiation which translates into an attic heat reduction of up to 30 f.

For example most homes don t have enough insulation to start with. The hot roof material then radiates its gained heat energy onto the cooler attic surfaces including the air ducts and the attic floor. Radiant barrier sheathing emits 3 5 of the heat it absorbs and can reducesummer heat gain in the roof from 16 to 42. Radiant barrier applied either under the roof rafters or under the roof sheathing is probably the most common application of a radiant barrier but many homeowners shy away from it because they don t fully understand what radiant barrier is or how it works.

A radiant barrier is typically stapled to the bottom truss chords against the deck sheathing. A control study was published in 2013 showing the radiant barrier effectiveness of paint foil backed sheathing and foil that was stapled onto the rafters. Some of thefacts they list are. Installing 19 inches of batt insulation or 22 of blown in is the single most cost effective way to reduce your heating and cooling costs.

Benefits of radiant barrier sheathing.