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Not all heat reflective paints are created equal—and not all brands are upfront about what’s really in the tin.

BRAND REVIEWS

We’ve reviewed Australia’s main roof paint manufacturers and their so-called “heat reflective” or “insulating” products. For each one, we cover what the manufacturer claims, the SRI (Solar Reflectance Index) where available, typical pricing, and whether the product’s performance lives up to the marketing.

Think of this as your shortcut past the advertising fluff. If there’s a brand or manufacturer we haven’t reviewed yet, let us know. We’ll add it to the list and dig into the details so you don’t have to.

  • Shieldcoat
  • SolaCoat
  • NuTech
  • DuroBond
  • Astec
  • Behr

ShieldCoat

Started by two brothers in 1996, ShieldCoat is a smaller company that has established itself as a market leader in a comparatively short period of time. It offers the highest SRI rating of all brands we’ve compared or ever seen.

ShieldCoat is not heavily distributed although their heat reflective paint has been used widely in Australia with apparent great success. Rather than quoting dazzling figures, degrees and percentages, ShieldCoat’s testimonials say more touchy-feely things like:


‘While the roof was being coated with Thermobond HRC, the workers at Oldmac Toyota remarked on the difference as results were noticed immediately. The building was much cooler and this was felt by all working in the shed. Cool!’

Perhaps this is a reflection of the ‘family business’ ethic which their website says helps them focus on clients. It could also be related to their Queensland roots.

Yes, and as an acrylic, wash up is made very easy.

110.5
The SRI combines reflectivity with emissivity and is an important combined measurement of a heat-reflective paint’s effectiveness. This is the highest SRI rating of all brands we’ve compared.

All responsible pastel colours (9) including Arctic White, with an incredibly high maximum 88% reflectivity.

However, you can request your own colour which could lead to some not-so-environmentally friendly roof paint being created. While this likely keeps customers happy, we believe low reflective colours defeat the purpose of heat reflective paints.

$280.00 inc GST for 15 litres 
$160.50 inc GST for 4 litres

Note: They don’t have an online store, but you can buy heat reflective paint from ShieldCoat at their direct-to-public wholesaler Solution Industries. The prices we’ve quoted above are for single units, delivered Australia-wide. Further discounts are available for buying in bulk or registering for a trade discount.

Yes – on the above-mentioned Solution Industries website. Enter dimensions or square meters and number of coats. The most economical pail size combination is also calculated for you.

Shieldcoat
SolaCoat

SolaCoat

SolaCoat is an Australian manufacturer with distribution offices worldwide and is the most marketed of all the heat reflective paint brands we are currently reviewing. We’ve so far located three different websites all run by the parent company CoolShield International Pty Ltd to promote the SolaCoat product.

Sporting a number of awards and memberships, SolaCoat is the most impressive company manufacturing this type of coating in Australia.

We were not impressed by their various advertisements of how much the product could reduce costs/temperatures/greenhouse emissions. Claims of ‘up to xx’ carry less and less weight the more they are used, especially when the ecoSpecifier hosted on the site mentions 8-12 degrees which the website rounds off at ‘up to 15 degrees’.


Marketing ethics aside, the large range of government and corporate customers using the SolaCoat product attest to it’s widespread use and distribution as a suitable reflective paint.

Yes, and there is a comprehensive page of instructions with an offer for technical questions to be answered using the website contact form.

CoolShield recently added SRI’s to their public specifications and notified us. They vary between 85 and 102 for the lighter colours.

10 responsible colours (SRIs between 85 and 102) and 12 not-so-responsible colours (SRI between 21 and 58). Interestingly, the Cream colour has a slightly higher reflectivity and emissivity than the White, meaning the White SRI is 99 and the Cream SRI is the highest SolaCoat colour at 102.

$309.98 inc GST for 15 litres

Yes – on some of their various sites. Also available by roof size estimation (using number of bedrooms averages) which is quite handy for an inexperienced or non-technical applicator.

NuTech

NuTech is an Australian company with distribution offices in Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Malaysia and Philippines. They claim to be Australia’s ‘oldest and largest specialist roof coating manufacturer with nearly 40 years experience’.

No – Flexi-Shield can only be used by licensed applicators as listed on the NuTech website.
They list four licensed applicators in NSW and two in the ACT, or you can contact them to ask about your area.

N/A – NOT A HEAT REFLECTIVE PAINT

Flexi-Shield may act as a thermal insulator, but not a solar reflector – the official brochure does not claim it to be a heat reflective paint. The film is 3 to 4 times thicker than conventional roof paint.

15 – the majority dark and includes the environmentally evil black!

No, but the coverage rates are listed on the website for you to calculate yourself.

They do not sell online but can be contacted via their website.

NuTech
DuroBond

DuroBond

Known as their ‘Flexi-GuardMembrane Coatings’ DuroBond is an Australian manufacturer producing what they call a solar re-radiation formula.

We’ve contacted DuroBond for more details and will supply them when they’re available.

Astec

Astec have been in paint since 1978 but their Heat Reflective range only started in 2006. They have put a big emphasis on their energy ratings and information, as well as their wide choice of colors, which is something of a paradox as the outstanding energy rating information comes from their White paint.

The Astec website is atrocious but since the Energy Star Heat Reflective range is new it is much more user-friendly. There is an explanatory video and brochure downloads.
Astec converts the general statements of 50% solar reflectivity into a saving of 15%-20% in interior temperatures. This is approximate as myriads of other factors like insulation, structure and your HVAC will vary from home to home.

Yes, and it’s acrylic, so there’s no need for extreme protection safety gear, just goggles.
(Note – we’re talking about Tileshield or exterior wall product, not their Ceram which is highly toxic and requires respiration.)

112 (white)

The SRI combines reflectivity with emissivity and is an important combined measurement of a heat reflective paint’s effectiveness.

44 colors including their admittedly dark ‘Slate Grey’.
The darker colors offer around 50% reflectivity compared with 89% for their white.


An Astec promotional video states “Consumers want the option of dark rich colors which otherwise generate the most heat build up” and Astec encourage this fetish of consumer asceticism. We would like to see manufacturers putting more emphasis on making responsible choices rather than  just promoting dark colors that aren’t quite as bad for the environment due to their heat reflective properties.

$244.55 inc GST for 15 litres, and 
$325.45 inc GST for 20 litres

Note: They don’t have an online store, but you can from Astec using their pdf order forms through different distributors depending what state you live in. The state we checked charged $2 per litre for postage and handling.

No.

Astec
Behr

Behr

This is a tricky one. Behr make this claim regarding their roof paint:

‘…helps brighten roofs and reflect heat’ and ‘This product is intended to brighten roofs and reflect heat’.

Unfortunately no other information is provided with regard to the reflectance or emissivity of the paint. We have our doubts the paint could truly be referred to as a heat reflective paint, and have contacted Behr for further information.

UPDATE: Behr’s response was “We do not have an SRI (Solar Reflective Index) value for our Roof Paint. Obtaining a value would require independent laboratory testing.”

In other words, ‘this is not a heat reflective paint’.

To explain: Any paint (particularly a light coloured one) will reflect light and therefore reflect some heat. However a heat reflective paint (such as the ones we review) are designed for extra high reflectivity as well as emissivity (meaning they release more heat than normal paints before passing the heat to the substrate – your roof).

Don’t let this be another example of a marketing attempt cashing in on genuine environmental interests of consumers without actually providing a quality eco conscious product that truly reflects heat in the best way possible.

Use it as a reminder for consumers to check the SRI – Solar Reflectance Index of paints that claim to reflect heat.