- Radiant barrier plus cool shingles can help, but only if your attic’s sealed up right.
- Seen folks add both and get maybe 10-15% drop in cooling bills, but it’s not dramatic unless you’ve got solid insulation too.
- If your attic’s drafty or under-insulated, the fancy roof stuff won’t fix everything.
- I’ve patched up storm-damaged roofs with new “cool” shingles, and folks still had hot attics until they added more insulation—just my two cents.
- Malarkey’s good for hail and wind, but heat-wise, it’s only one piece of the puzzle.
- Looking at Malarkey too since the hail here wrecks roofs every few years, but I’m worried about cost vs. payoff.
- My attic’s got maybe R-19 insulation—probably not enough, but I can’t afford to do everything at once.
- If I just swap to “cool” shingles now and wait on more insulation, is it even worth the extra money upfront?
- Kinda skeptical about those 10-15% savings unless you go all-in... anyone seen better results from just one upgrade at a time?
I hear you on the cost vs. payoff thing—roofing prices are wild lately. I swapped to cool shingles last year (couldn’t swing more insulation yet either), and honestly, my upstairs felt a bit less like a toaster in July, but my electric bill didn’t drop as much as I hoped. Maybe 5%? Still, the attic was definitely less brutal. Wonder if it’d be more noticeable with better insulation... or if it’s just one of those “every little bit helps” situations. Anyone else notice the same?
I’m in the same boat—first house, and I went with “cool” shingles too. They definitely helped a bit with the upstairs heat, but honestly, it wasn’t a night-and-day difference for me either. My attic was less suffocating, though, which made storing stuff up there way less miserable. I think insulation makes a bigger dent in the bills, but every little upgrade seems to chip away at the problem. Roofing prices are just nuts lately... I almost went with Malarkey but couldn’t justify the extra cost without seeing more dramatic results.
I went with Malarkey on my last place, mostly for the recycled content and supposed energy savings. Honestly, the attic was a bit cooler, but like you said, not a massive difference. Insulation and good ventilation mattered more for my summer bills. The price stung, but I liked the durability factor—didn’t have to worry about hail as much. Still not sure I’d pay the premium again unless I was staying long-term.
