Skylights are a popular construction and design tool used to bring more light into a dark space. Many interior rooms need more access to natural light. Thus, a skylight becomes a preferred solution. Energy-efficient homeowners especially find this form of lighting preferable to the harsh brilliance of synthetic lighting techniques. While skylights are functional and aesthetically pleasing, there is plenty to consider before installing one in your home.
Top Considerations For Skylight Installation
With all of the benefits a skylight offers to most homeowners, it’s not hard to see why they have become so popular. Even so, skylights provide their fair share of challenges and can be problematic if they aren’t thoughtfully installed. To help you navigate the process, HUF Construction has created a convenient list of commonly overlooked issues for you to consider.
Skylight Glare
Choosing to place a skylight above a darkly lit room is all well and good, but did you know that placement can also impact how much sun glare the interior of your home will be receiving throughout the day? Placing a skylight where the sun reflects off the glass for prolonged periods can be detrimental to the room’s aesthetic. No one wants to sit in a room where they have to squint their eyes due to glare.
To combat this issue, you can apply a tint to your skylight that will reduce the brightness of the glare. You can also purchase a shade to cover problematic areas during specific parts of the day. Ensure you’ve considered the sun’s placement concerning the new opening in your roof to ensure you have every resource available to prevent sun glare.
Light Control
While the placement of your skylight is important, another common factor that is commonly overlooked is the shape of your skylight. Light is affected by the shape of the glass. A flat, straight-sided skylight will allow the sunlight to come in at a centralized location, which is excellent if you want to draw focus to a specific space within the room. However, if your goal is to provide light throughout the room, you want a flared shape. A flared shape skylight will disperse the light evenly throughout the glass and restrict it from focusing on a particular spot.
Whichever type of lighting you prefer, ensure that your skylight shape reflects it, and let your installer know your preferences before they begin the ordering process.
Heat Gain
While windows are great for allowing light to enter your home, there is another aspect of light that many people don’t consider. That’s the fact that light also creates heat, and every time you add a window, you’re generating more heat for your home to deal with. Skylights are especially problematic in this area because they are installed at an angle that is more in line with the sunlight beaming down on your roof.
There are several ways to offset this issue if you consider installing a skylight. The first is to ensure that your skylight has double-insulated glass tempered with low-E coatings. The second way to ensure that your skylight does add excessive heat to your home is to ensure that it is installed at a lower slope.
Vented Skylights can also help with heat gain and are also growing in popularity among homeowners. A vented skylight allows fresh air into your home while allowing the hot air to escape. The most common form is a manual crank system, but new motorized designs have improved this function in recent years.
Automatic Skylights
Although pricier than other skylight options, automatic skylights have specific sensors that can detect heat and rain and open or close themselves accordingly. Many of these skylights also have a programmable remote to adjust the settings from the comfort of your couch.
HUF Construction Can Help
If you’re considering installing a skylight on your roof, HUF Construction can help answer your questions. We’ll inspect your roof and ensure you’re not overlooking any vital information. It is also vital to have your skylight installed by a roofer that understands the specifics of installing a skylight on different kinds of roofs. Give us a call today.