eli5: If white reflects light, why do most houses have black shingles on the roof?

Question

eli5: If white reflects light, why do most houses have black shingles on the roof?

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Answer 1

The roof of a house is typically isolated from the interior spaces by the empty space in the attic and the insulation up there, so the roof can get as hot as you want without transferring too much heat into the house.

Additionally, white roofs start to look ugly pretty quickly. A flat roof with white TPO or rolled comp roof can generally hide the roof from the ground by using 12″ parapet walls around the roof. A more traditional gabled roof is going to be visible from the ground as it gets dirtier and dirtier. A darker shingle is cheaper and doesn’t show dirt nearly as quickly.