Unfortunately, many people are unaware of exactly what skylights are or how easy they are to purchase and install in your home.
In this article we aim to understand exactly what skylights are, why your home can benefit from them and what kinds of prices you should be paying for skylights in Melbourne and surrounds.
What are Skylights?
Skylights are also commonly called roof lights. They are generally made from acrylic and double/single glazed opal depending on the brand.
They can be vented, fixed or openable and are available in multiple shapes and sizes.
What makes them so unique to ordinary types of lighting is that they can let in far more natural light into your home. Plus, they don’t consume any additional energy.
What are Roof Windows?
Many people think that roof windows and skylights are one and the same. However, there are subtle differences between the two.
Roof windows are exactly as the name suggests, windows on your roof. They are generally embedded within the design of the roof itself.
Very popular throughout Melbourne, roof windows can be used to increase natural light within a room and even as a visual feature in your home. They are usually dearer to install due to timber work and Plastering for shafts.
Bear in mind, as with any other window, the distribution of light will generally change as the direction of the sun changes throughout the day.
What are Tubular Skylights?
Also, very popular throughout Melbourne homes. Tubular skylights or Sun Tunnels can help channel light throughout rooms that are usually dark or that don’t get much natural sunlight.
Tubular skylights generally consist of three main components:
A light collector (roof-mounted)
A reflective tube
An interior fixture
Certain Tubular skylight systems can also help shield your home from damaging UV rays and infrared rays that can potentially overheat the home or damage furniture.
The SolarBright MaxLight series is NFRC tested and rated and has an excellent SHGC of 0.24 and the U-Factor is 0.29 OR 1.66 W/m2 (Metric)
What are the Benefits of Skylights?
There are many benefits from installing skylights in your home. One of the main benefits is the energy saving advantages it produces.
Studies show that almost 40% of a buildings heating energy can be lost through windows and skylights. This accounts for almost half of you winter heating bill.
Compared to most other home windows of the same size, skylights can let in up to three times more light into your home.
This allows you to switch of additional lights within the home that would ordinarily consume energy to achieve the same amount of illumination within the room.
In addition to saving energy costs skylights have been show to also positively impact health and productivity.
Studies have concluded that 40% of workplaces with good daylight had a 3%-40% increase in productivity and sales. Natural light has also been shown to help reduce eye strain.
Natural daylight exposure also supports the regulation of vitamin D, melatonin and serotonin and has been shown to improve mood and reduce stress.
Workers in offices were also shown to be almost 15% more creative when being exposed to natural elements like greenery and sunlight.
In summary, some properly designed and fitted skylights can help keep your home warmer in winter and cooler in summer. Effectively reducing heating and cooling drains on your homes electricity bills all year round. The SolarBright MaxLight Series has a SHGC (Solar heat gain coefficient) of 0.24 and the U-Factor is 0.29 OR 1.66 W/m2 (Metric)
Even more interestingly natural daylight exposure can help improve your health and your daily productivity at home or at work.
What are the most important things to consider when choosing a skylight?
Location and size:
Skylights can come in many shapes and sizes. If you want the perfect amount of light to enter your home it is important to select the right size skylight.
The direction that your window is pointing is another factor to consider. Your installer should be able to give you advise based on experience. You can also look at online resources such as the Window Energy Rating Scheme as a guide to energy rated skylights.
Design:
Certain skylights can be opened, while others are permanently closed.
Sun mitigation in summer months:
The summer in Melbourne can be quite extreme, beware sometimes when skies are clear some skylights can let extra heat into your home.
This can be counteracted with accessories such as blinds, glazing and ceiling diffusers which will act to mitigate or even remove the suns glare. Again, your installer will be able to advise you according to your specific needs.
How long will it take to install a skylight in my home?
This is a difficult question to answer and can depend on a variety of factors.
Factors such as the roof material, the number and type of skylights you want installed, any extra such as electronic dimmers etc and the slope of the roof itself can all play a part.
Try to allow a little more time if you have an extremely flat or an extremely steep roof as this can in certain cases create delays in the skylight installation process.
At Affordable Solar Solutions and Skylights, we pride ourselves on our having some of the quickest turn around times in the industry.
What kind of accessories can I add to my SolarBright skylight?
Mechanical Ventilation:
There are many benefits to adding ventilation to a skylight. Firstly, they can remove moisture within a room. Secondly, they can improve air circulation within a room. Lastly, they can be very useful in environments such as kitchens to aid in extracting cooking smells from the house relatively quickly.
Electric Light Add-ons:
Electric light add-ons allow your skylight to illuminate the room during the night time also. The light is wired into the normal lighting and is controlled through a single switch on the wall.
Solar Powered Skylight Dimmer:
Last but certainly not least is the solar powered skylight dimmer. This accessory allows you to modify the amount of natural light entering a given room through a remote control. This is an ideal extra for rooms where light is sometimes not required such as cinema rooms or bedrooms.
Where can you find the most affordable skylights in Melbourne?
Of course, we’re a little biased, but as our name suggests we are proud to say that our skylights are some of the most affordable skylights in Melbourne (without sacrificing on quality).
Prices for our skylights range start from:
Solarbright MaxLight Tubular Skylights (with 20-year industry leading warranty): Prices starting from only $467
SolarBright Spectrum Tubular Skylights (with 10-year warranty): Prices starting from only $327
SolarBright Budget Tubular Skylights (with 7-year warranty): Prices starting from only $234
Our prices also filter down to our commercial range. You can contact us,/a> directly to get a quote for your business. Or have a look at some of our local case studies in Melbourne here.
