Exterior color verses heat gain

egansen

I am getting ready to reside my house with a cement based product and was wondering if/how much the exterior color influences the indoor heat gain inside the house.  My house is simple 2"x4" stud walls with fiber glass insulation.  I like some of the darker colors that are available but may want to avoid them if it will create more work for my air conditioner.

Thanks!

GGross

I can't speak to the actual effect of the color of your paint. But what you bring up is a real concept, there have been some experiments done with different types of paint or surface material to lower the heat gain inside of buildings. I do think personally that most likely you should just pick the color you like the best, while it may make for a little more work for your air conditioner I am not sure if anyone on this forum could give you an exact cooling capacity difference. Most likely it is minimal at best.

In_New_England

Good answer here: https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/question/dark-siding-hot-house#comment-179748