Tubular Skylights

Is your home looking a little dark and dreary?  Adding a skylight is an ideal way of improving the amount of natural light in your home and one great kind of skylight is the tubular skylight.  Here’s what you need to know.

What Are Tubular Skylights?

Tubular skylights are also known as sun tunnels, light tubes, or day lighting systems.  They have a dome on the roof and a diffuser on the ceiling of the home that is connected by a tube made of highly reflective materials. The sunlight “bounces” down the tube and enters the home in order to provide more natural daylight.  Tubular skylights are capable of providing more light than traditional skylights that are larger in size.  The components of the skylight fit easily within rafters and do not require structural modifications to be made.

Advantages of Tubular Skylights

Tubular skylights are great for one storey homes or the top storey of a home but they can also be used on the ground floor of two or more storey homes if the tube can be run from the roof through the ceiling of the ground floor.  Be aware that you can only use one diffuser per dome.  That is, you cannot have one dome on the roof connected to two diffusers.  Tubular skylights can be fitted just about anywhere as the tube can be flexible or rigid. Just be aware that the longer the tube, the more light will be lost.

Some tubular skylight systems come fitted with “dimmers” that allow you to control how much light enters your room from the skylight. This is great if you need to cut glare at certain times of the day, or if you just wish to have a higher or lower level of light at any one time.

You don’t have to worry about the tubular skylight causing fading to your furnishings as they are able to block UV rays.  Tubular skylights are sealed units so you will not lose heat in the winter or gain heat in the summer.  Using energy efficient glazing (such as double or triple glazing), and tints can further improve the energy efficiency of the skylight.

Installing Tubular Skylights

Tubular skylights can be quickly installed by a professional (in around two hours).  Make sure your professional is experienced with these kinds of skylights and that they are fully qualified.  Also check what warranty is included with your skylight. You should get at least a 10 year warranty for your product.

Find Out More About Skylights

If you’d like to find out more about tubular skylights or skylights in general, check out our skylights feature or search through our directory to find a professional near you.