How do you choose what Skylight is best for your home?
This is a common question among skylight customers and the answer is relatively simple… when you understand the basic design and purpose for each.
Roof Windows
They’re exactly that.
A window in your roof.
The main design aspect of a roof window is, to not only provide natural light, but to allow you to create a visual feature in your home.
Many people will change the structure of the roof to make a room larger or take advantage of an attic space with this product.
Note: As with any window, the light delivery though a roof window will transition across the room depending on the location of the sun, rather than staying consistent.
Square & Tubular Skylights
Square Skylights are designed to transfer light into the home and provide a constant spread via a “diffuser” at the ceiling.
While both Square and Tubular Skylights have a very similar goal, the results can be very different. Square Skylights are an adequate source of natural light in many situations, but Tubular Skylights have allowed the Skylight Industry to provide more light with greater energy efficiency over the same roof surface area.
Remember that light will react very differently in your home, depending whether you install a Tubular Skylight or Roof Window. While the volume of light might change in a Tubular Skylight, the spread across the room is more consistent.
So when asking what type of Skylight you need, there are two simple answers:
- If your goal is to create a feature where external elements are brought inside through opening a Vented Roof Window, or you want to see the sky – then your best choice is a roof window.
- If your goal is to spread beautiful consistent natural light throughout the entire room, your best choice is a Tubular Skylight.
Obviously, many skylight customers still want a square fixture to match their room, but are unaware that many Tubular Skylight products will allow you to transition to a square at the ceiling level. This provides all the styling options you require without sacrificing performance of a Tubular Skylight!