So after the discussion on radiant barriers, I remembered happening on this and similar designs last year when researching roof details.

Hard to find any reviews or commentary on this system, but it appears they have been at it about 6 years.

Any thoughts?

Having not been a part of the radiant barrier discussion here are my thoughts:

It seems like an option that could work, I have not seen this used in the field anywhere so I'm not sure what testimonials there are to back up the "science" laid out in that video, but the cost for building something like this seem very high, especially on the labor side.

I've been in roofing for several years now on both the commercial and residential side and we tell everyone (on the residential side) the best option for reducing energy costs is the spray foam insulation. It has the best bang for the buck on the market right now. Second best is a combination of the radiant barrier and a solar powered vent (ie Attic Breeze).

Thanks for the insight.

I've seen a similar system from a high-end builder in Austin. Haven't seen it anywhere else.

Budget is a factor, but I'm more interested in 2 things

• Does it really work
• what is the ROI / time to offset additional cost

I like the idea of the long-term savings, but it has to make sense

Thanks again for your comment

Metal on batten on radiant barrier is not uncommon. But the issue is there is only so much ROI to go around on these things. Radiant barrier with a comp shingle is going to have a faster ROI than metal due to the cost of metal roofing, which is about 3x. There is never a way to perfectly measure efficiency gains or ROI with these type things. I try to steer clients far away from over analyzing these things, unless they just want me to spend all their money, which I will do

The only time we ever install radiant barrier is on new construction homes or on an insurance redeck. If a house has 1x8 or 1x10 lumber as the roof deck, insurance will pay to replace it with OSB or the like since the 1x's are no longer code compliant. That is the perfect time to upgrade to Radiant Barrier as the gains are incredible when it is on someone elses dime.

Thanks

So, what I think I heard was, on a new build, radiant is worth investment, but metal on batten not really worth the extra expense?

When the attic roof framing is insulated this vent system becomes critical to prevent condensation collection and mold.
When the attic ceiling is insulated and not the roof framing, it's not an issue as there are vents venting the attic.
The metal roof with the batten and the ridge vent creates necessary venting with insulated roof framing.

cavscout96 said:

---

Thanks

So, what I think I heard was, on a new build, radiant is worth investment, but metal on batten not really worth the extra expense?

---

Just all depends on your definition of worth. That changes with each person.