Thinking About Putting In Skylights? Think Again.
Skylights are great, right? They fill your room with a ton of natural light and keep you from having to use electricity to light your room during the day. Well, there are some things about installing skylights that may make you think twice about it. Here are 5 of the biggest ones:
1. Big Holes, Big Hassle
The premise behind skylights is pretty simple: in order to bring a lot of light into your home, you need to cut big holes in your roof and ceilings to do it. The problem is that this frequently requires structural changes to your house to get joists and rafters out of the way, and you may even have to build alternate supporting structures. That’s a lot of hassle, but it also leads to some of the other issues…
2. Hope You’re Not In a Hurry
With all that cutting and construction to prepare for installation, as well as the installation itself, putting in a skylight generally isn’t a quick operation. Skylights can take days or even weeks to install. Ouch. That’s a long time to be staring at random carpenter crack.
3.Is It Raining In Here?
Unquestionably, the problem for which skylights are most notorious is leaks. They can be caused by faulty installation, bad flashings, captured condensation, and even cracks from impact. Regardless of the source, the result is that leaky skylights just plain suck. And the bigger the skylight (and hole in your roof), the more opportunity for problems.
4. Hot Stuff… Coming Through
A lot of criticism for skylights centers on the fact that many of those large glass installations on your roof don’t do a particularly good job of reducing or eliminating heat, glare, and UV damage in your home. And while the added heat can require greater air conditioning during the warm months, the large surface area also lets heat out of your house in the winter months. Frankly not very energy efficient.
5. Hole in Your Roof, Hole in Your Wallet
With all the above issues, from protracted construction and installation to the costs for the skylights themselves (not to mention potential repairs and energy costs), it all adds up to a pretty significant expense. With all of these elements, it can cost thousands of dollars per skylight. Worth it? You be the judge.
The reality is that installing a lighting solution should give you peace of mind, not more things to worry about. So, if you want all the light of skylights without the unwelcome issues that come with them, what’s your best option? One of the most highly regarded alternatives is known as “tubular daylighting.”
These solutions use a relatively small light-capturing dome on your roof to pull sunlight into modular tubing that can route around rafters and joists in your attic and ultimately deliver bright, beautiful, diffused light into your home through attractive ceiling fixtures. Since the tubing completely avoids cutting big holes in your roof or having to make any structural changes to your home, the cost not only remains relatively low, but installation can be completed in as little as two hours.
Solatube, the originator of tubular daylighting, provides the deepest product assortment and most innovative technologies in the industry. Its tubular daylighting systems use domes that keep the heat out while bringing natural light in, provide unique flashings that are completely leak-proof, and also give the opportunity to add options like dimming, ventilation and smart night lighting. And its tubing is engineered with the world’s most reflective material to maintain the purity and brightness of the light throughout the system. So it not only delivers an incredible level of light, but also avoids the hassles of skylights. And this means a more beautiful home with more peace of mind for you.
Want to learn more about the differences between skylights and Solatube Tubular Daylighting Systems—NOW WITH A TAX CREDIT? Call 888.SOLATUBE or visit SolatubeDaylighting.com to find a Premier Dealer near you who can walk you through all the information you need.