Tubular Skylights Bring In Natural Light

Does your home need more natural light? Do you have a small interior space that always seems dark and gloomy - a place where a view to the outside is unnecessary or impractical? Maybe a hallway, laundry room, or walk-in closet?  Would you prefer the warmth of natural sunlight to the harsh light from recessed can fixtures?  Would you like to improve your home lighting and reduce your energy bills?  Who wouldn’t? 

Here’s a bright idea to to bring natural light into dim places that were once impossible to reach…check out the tubular skylight or skylite solar tube!  Home buyers want light, bright interiors, so add this green lighting project to your home improvement list.

Install Solar Tubes to Let the Sunshine In

The traditional skylights of the past were a good idea in concept that had more than their share of problems once installed.  They tended to leak; they didn’t diffuse sunlight evenly throughout the room; their harsh light often wreaked havoc on the interior’s carpets and fabrics; they made the room too cold in the winter and too warm in the summer; and they could be obtrusive from the exterior of the home.

Enter the tubular skylight or solar tube.  This small, roof-mounted marvel captures natural sunlight, then redirects it down a reflective tube into interior spaces in the home - without any of the before-mentioned problems of typical skylights.  Here are some of the many benefits a tubular skylight provides:

• Exceptional light output - one 10″ solar tube can light a room as large as 200 square feet
• Cost-efficiency-  a tubular skylight is considerably less expensive than windows and traditional skylights for both product and installation costs.  Small, basic models retail for about $150.  Larger models and add-ons could bump it up to around $600.
• Eco-friendly - solar tubes are a green lighting solution that save you money on energy costs since you’ll no longer need daytime lighting, and it also reduces environmental pollution…a double win!
• Easy installation - additional framing is not needed to install a solar tube in new homes; and since no structural reframing, tunneling, drywalling or painting is necessary, it makes for a simple home improvement project in resale homes.  A do-it-yourselfer can install a solar skylight in a day.  Or you can hire a professional installer to finish the job within a couple hours.
• Attractive inside and unobtrusive outside - from the interior, solar tubes resemble conventional recessed lighting fixtures, and from the outside their small profile minimizes their impact on the home’s appearance.
• Adaptable - the flexible and compact design of a tubular skylight allow homeowners to experience natural light in narrow interior spaces where it was previously not viable.

To increase the functionality of your solar tube, you can buy an add-on light kit for night-time use.  Need light and ventilation in an upstairs interior bathroom?  Add a ventilation kit and make your solar skylight a three-in-one fixture.   Like the control you get from the dimmer switch on your lighting fixtures?  Not a problem, you can purchase a dimmer switch for your solar tube that will let you control the amount of daylight that comes through it.  For special effects, some skylight retailers sell special filters and diffuser options that play with the light to create interest and drama in your room.  Pretty cool.

Whether you’re building a new home or renovating an existing home, consider installing a tubular skylight or two.  You’ll enjoy having a lighter, brighter space, and if you ever decide to move on, it’ll be a selling point for prospective buyers too. 

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