Posted on 09/19/2021 5:33:05 PM PDT by American Number 181269513
White houses are often boring, but they might just save the planet. As USA Today reports, Purdue University researchers have developed an ultra-white paint (it just earned a Guinness World Record) that reflects 98.1 percent of solar radiation while outputting infrared heat. As this leaves the surface cooler than the environment (regular paint warms the surface), it could effectively replace air conditioning in some cases — it produces a cooling power of 10kW for a 1,000sq. ft. roof, or more than a typical house AC unit.
There are existing paints made to reflect heat, but they reflect no more than 90 percent of sunlight and don't cool surfaces. The team didn't have much breathing room, either — an even whiter paint might have compromised it.
The trick was to use a high ratio of barium sulfate, a compound you often see in cosmetics and photo paper, in varying particle sizes. The wider range of sizes helps scatter more of the light spectrum and thus reflect more sunlight.
It's not clear how close this extremely white paint is to your local store, but the researchers are fully bent on commercializing their work. They've teamed with a company to mass-produce and sell the paint, and have already filed patents. If it lives up to the billing, though, it could play an important role in fighting climate change. It could reduce or eliminate the need for air conditioning in some homes, particularly in warm regions with ample sunlight. That could reduce emissions and power consumption, and might save you some money on hot summer days.
For being too white?
White supremacy
Oh give me a break.
An ultra-white paint that’s hydrophobic would be a good thing.
A BLM spy monitoring Free Republic has just had to go into therapy due to a raciss overload.
Oh no, it’s that white privilege again.
we need the “That’s racist” black kid.
Just wait until they invent Ultra-White Blacktop...er...Ultra-Whitetop.
Then they will be madder than Murder Hornets that we are no longer using Blacktop.
Al Sharpton is calling that article “A Dog Whistle!”
Most home owners don’t wash down their homes enough to keep this effective. Many homes are so dirty and mildew covered that the color reflectance won’t work.
I painted a roof white with elastomeric reflective paint in the California desert. Worked like a charm - reduced mid summer indoor temperature by up to 25 degrees in hottest day
BUT IN WINTER I NEARLY FROZE.
I coated my composite shingle roof with white elastomeric paint a number of years ago and it did help keep the house cooler using less AC. I’d give this a try over the top of that to see if it could help. Maybe even paint the white part of the house; especially the sides that see the summer sun.
That’s why it would have to be hydrophobic, so the rain can do that type of maintenance for you.
“Save the planet by painting your house a boring color”
Why stop there. Might as well paint everything to save the planet. White teeth, white hair, white streets, white grass (like permanent snow). The possibilities are endless.
How about 99% reflective mirror surface?
Chrome your house for a much better rejection of solar radiation.
Fire it all back into the atmosphere to heat it up and cause real global warming.
The Zoolander boys in the lab are so smart. There stopping by the gas station later before heading out to lunch.
Nope....doesn’t address the humidity issue especially in the south.
Can a variation be used on roof tiles?
In Arizona they paint the tree trunks white to protect from the heat. So there’s that.
Won’t it burn off the ozone and cause extreme white supremacy?
If we the taxpayers funded the research shouldn’t we retain the patents?
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