Home Remodeling 101

Would you rather be standing in the middle of the desert, with the sun beating down on you, while wearing a white shirt or a black shirt? The answer, of course, is white because it deflects the sun whereas black absorbs it. The same color principle applies to your house and its exterior, according to Jill Morton of ColorMatters.com. This is something you should take into consideration when you are building, or painting, your home because the color of the exterior will have an impact on your utility costs. The interior colors will also affect how much energy (electricity) you will use.

http://student.britannica.com/comptons/art/print?id=107682&articleTypeId=0Jill Morton explains that a light color cuts cooling costs because the light color reflects the sun and heat. The hotter the roof is, determined by its color, the hotter the rooms are in the house. Morton notes that gray is a better color than blue or green when it comes to reflecting light. According to Baird M. Smith, AIA, in an article about historic structure found on nps.gov, inherent energy savings characteristics were incorporated into structures many years ago, including painting the exterior walls a light color, which resulted in a cooler interior. This was particularly important in the south in an era long before the existence of electric fans and air conditioners. On the other hand, dark paint was used on homes in the northern climates to help maintain interior warmth.

http://flickr.com/photos/ververtigo/347284966/When you are shopping for exterior paint, ask your paint dealer what the LRV, or light reflectance value, of the paint is. Black reflects 5 percent and absorbs the rest whereas white reflects 80 percent.

According to Buildinggreentv.com, for those living in hot areas, the roof color, as noted earlier by Morton, is very important when it comes to energy savings. Roofs are frequently a dark color and this dark color absorbs so much heat that it can cause a building's interior to heat up as much as 30 degrees, particularly in scorching hot areas, such as Arizona. By selecting a light-colored roof, you can greatly reduce your cooling costs.

If you paint your house's interior white, or some other light color, you will need less artificial light and, consequently, your electric bill will be lower.

Color can affect perception. Studies have been done that show that a cool color, such as green or blue, will be perceived by people as 6- to 10 degrees cooler than it actually is, whereas red or orange, which are warm colors, will be thought of as 6- to 10 degrees warmer.