Metal Roof Color Temperature

These were the three pieces of metal I had painted. The black tape is an emissivity target to get accurate temperatures.

Metal Roof Color Temperature - Color Matters Big Time

I used my FLIR infrared camera to determine the temperature of three pieces of metal I had painted three different colors.

The experiment was done at the end of May 2020 in central New Hampshire. I took the photos just a few minutes after solar noon. The strips of painted metal had been in direct sunlight for about 30 minutes to heat up. It was a cloudless day.

One of my FREE newsletter subscribers, David Andersen, had provided great information to ensure the temperature readings were accurate. He's a level III thermographer and had been trained on how to take infrared photos. He pointed out that two things are important :

• the spot where the reading is taken needs to be a 1-inch by 1-inch piece of black tape. This gives true accurate readings between the three samples.
• the photos need to be taken in the shade so you're not getting a sun reflection temperature.

I had my camera all set up and then used a cookie baking sheet to create temporary shade for a second or two to take each photograph.

I put the strip on a piece of plywood and tilted it to about a 5:12 roof pitch. This creates a realistic setting. The samples and wood were aimed directly south to get the maximum infrared rays from the sun.

The camera sensor is aimed at the black tape on the white painted metal. It's 104.7 F.

The FLIR camera is aimed dead center on the black painted metal. HOT! 152.7 F.

Here's the green painted metal. It's just a little cooler than the black. 147.1 F.