My house is hot in the southern United States. Trying to add insulation in the attic space during the summer almost killed me last year. The attic was so unbelievably hot. I have developed a roof leak and was thinking about a metal roof on top of my current roof. I was wondering why a metal roof can’t be installed on braces a few inches above an existing roof to function as a roof and shade. The airflow between the two would have to cool the attic, much better than if the heat radiated through straight to the shingles and plywood. We bought a sunshade for our back patio, and I’ve thought about even something as simple as that over smaller homes could drastically help.
In: Engineering
This is actually what solar panels end up doing. People say their house is cooler, even if you had broken solar panels installed. I think it’s actually a huge miss in the design of houses.
ELI5 answer:
People used to design houses in ways that kept them cool (or warm) because electricity did not exist. They had to rely on techniques that were often unique to their region. For example in India where it is very hot for much of the year, in some multi-story buildings there are vents between the floors (in the hallway) of the same building. A breeze can go vertically through a building. They also install a fan intake and fan outtake in rooms (two windows) to create a sort of “cross breaze”.
As electricity and other means of heating/cooling your home became more common, problem began relying on those as their solution instead of other techniques that go back to ancient times.
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