Texcote - Solar Reflective Paint
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 08.31.06
One of our very early posts was on the enviro benefits of Green Roofs. And we’ve been singing their praise ever since, touching on various benefits, such as spreading out the temperature differentials encountered by roofs. But if you have some deep seating aversion to growing grasses and strawberries on your upstairs, you might alternatively be curious about Texcote. It claims to be 10 times thicker than normal paint, and to be infused with a special reflective pigment. Now your house, or commercial premises, unlike a Stealth bomber, may not need to reduce its radar signature, but reducing roof temps by 40°F is a practical application of the technology. Apparently the US govt think such energy reduction possibilities might have merit, so are said to be researching just what the savings could be. And the stuff is robust, in some instances not needing a repaint for 40 years. Yet for all this heavy-dutyness, it is said to have a low volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. Texcote was cited in a list of significant green architectural products in recent time, but alas we’ve misplaced the reference. ::Texcote.
How exactly would one use this on the roof? I could see doing the exterior walls, but painting over shingles?
I would assume you would put down a membrane of some sort or an aluminum roof.
It is used widely for exterior walls, such as stucco. Correct. But of the many variations available, some are suitable for timber and masonry application, and they also have a product called Texcote Elastomeric Roof Coating. But yeh, maybe a shingle roof is a bit of an ask.
I remember testing a sample of this paint years ago. The paint was globbed around the middle a 6" x 1" piece of galvanized metal flashing. The instructions for the sample was to hold on to one end of the metal with your bare hand and apply a propane torch to the other end of the metal, with only the paint separating your hand from the heated metal.
Sure enough, the heated end got read hot but the other end was cool enough to continue to hold. Ceramics is the key ingredient, I understand.
A reflective insulation paint that has been on the market now for many years is called SuperTherm paint. It was developed in cooperation with NASA. It is great stuff. But a little expensive. I tried to find price information for this Texcote on its website to do a comparison but couldn't locate that info. Does anyone know how much it costs?
How is this different from Insuladd (a ceramic additive to ordinary paint)?
I believe that Insuladd is for interior paint. It appears to be much easier to handle than texcote's exterior paint.(www.insuladd.com).
Hy-Tech also has an insulating additive for paint, which seems very similar to insuladd's product. (www.hytechsales.com)
dumb question: what exactly are the environmental benefits of reflecting solar energy back into the atmosphere?
Panpan, the main benefit is reduced energy needs for air conditioning.
um... instead of reflecting it why not obsorbe it and use it um?
that's what solar cells do