Why skylights

[garager]

Ok, this is all from past experiences w/skylights.

I have installed, I would guess around 30 skylights or more, and the newer one are by far more superior and less chance of leakage and condensation problems.

There are Fixed Skylights and Manual Skylights, Powered Skylights and Solar skylights. In this case the Manual and Solar is what Green Building is about.

The most recent brands I have installed are Velux at the big boxes and Milgard at the local Lumber Yard. Both I find to work just great. Theres so many brands anymore I cannot keep up.

Now skylights can increase energy efficiency up to 12% and reduce your heating costs due to a better natural climate control in your room. This is a big plus to have them installed in homes. Skylights can come w/Roller Shades, Venetian Blinds, Light Block Shade and Cellular Shades. Each for a specific reason. Roller Shades, would be great for bedrooms and familyrooms. Cellular shades for more energy efficiency w/low E glass.

Solar battery powered shades are for the lazy people but not using electricity. Which they are selling more of these days, I have yet to install one, but soon I'm sure. My guess w/all the new construction, at least 80% in my area are putting in skylights.

The most rooms I have installed above, has got to be the bedrooms, then the kitchen, then those little fricken tube ones in the stair case area. HO, just love to lay in they're beds at night, looking at the stars, most will respond later, that they wished they would have installed larger skylights.

To have more natural lighting in the kitchen is great and everybody would agree to this. More natural lighting does something to our body and mind and in return we seem to have a more pleasant day, would you agree or not?

Ok, add on what I missed or debate what I have said.

Who do you think makes the best skylights and why?

Basically 3 ways of mounting skylights are curb mounted, self-flashed and deck mounted. Which do you prefer and why?

Has any one installed skylights on a tiled roof? This is a roof that I have never dealt with, due to our winters and hail storms, we just don't see much of this here. I'm not sure if this forum is ready for a topic such as this, but what the heck, I'll give it a try. Knock yourself out and chat away.:D:D:D

Mark (Garager)

[The Wood Meister]

Hi Mark, another Mark here.

Here in Phoenix, we have miles and miles of tile roofs. It's about all we ever see. Miles of tiles. There are few if any skylights in tile roofs here, for apparent reasons. If the house has a tile roof and a rooftop a/c unit, the roof is switched to shingle from the a/c unit all the way down to the eve. Just no good way to seal the tiles once you break the run.
There are a couple of companies here that install the tube lights and advertise that they do tile but i'm sure sealing a 10" tube is much easier than 4 or 5 feet! LOL

Mark

[garager]

Hi Mark

I have seen skylights on tiled roofs, also I can just imagine the leakage problems that can arise from this setup. However, I'm sure they must have redesigned the weather boots or flashing to meet the requirement of skylights and tiled roofs. Thanks for responding Mark, its a nice subject and we all may learn something from one another's. Who knows, maybe you'll be putting one on your house after this discussion, they are really nice to have and well designed these days.:)

[rburke65]

New guy here! Hello to all. I have installed 2 sky lights and both were Velux brand. First one, 20 yrs. ago, was 22" x 48" (approx.), fixed glass with factory, seamless flashing, and the 2nd one, 24' square, 2 yrs. ago, fixed, seamless flash. No runs, no drips, no errors.

[garager]

Welcome to the forum, I'm glad to hear about the success with yours. If its done properly, they should go a long time. Obviously you did a good job, I really thought that this thread was a dead one and you just brought it back to life. Its a great forum here, glad you found us.....

[cpw]

We've got four skylights in our house. One in the kitchen, one above our stairs, and one in each of the upstairs bathrooms. They are all ones that we manually open with a pole. I think that the ones in the bathrooms end up being the most useful, because there are no windows otherwise. Also, in the spring and fall (i.e. not during heating season) opening one of those up is much more effective than the fan to clear out the steam from a shower.

[cactusman]

Solatube does make a specific fixture for tile roofs. It is a rubber type roof jack? I'm not sure about the proper name but it is even colored the same as the tiles roofs here in Phoenix.

I have a metal shake shingle roof and they made up a special mounting..no leaks.

I have two solatubes a 10" in a bathroom. I keep hitting the light switch to turn off the light..It's very bright!

The other one is a 14" in the family room and it eliminates using any lights during the day.

Installing the round solatube type skylights are quite easy to do. you often never need to climb up in the attic as you can do it all from the ceiling or roof.

I also think Home Depot carries a brand of round tube sky light

Cactus Man

[Faboo]

Why skylights is an apt way to put it. I am from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. We have pretty severe winters. It is a fact that the 2 biggest heat loss areas in your house is your windows and your roof. With a skylight your are putting a window in the roof. I have checked out many skylight instalations and even attempted a few myself. Inevitably it is the same story, No matter how well you seal, caulk insulate and poly around them, you end up with moisture problems. I firmly believe in this climate they should not be used unless you incorperate some type of air movement around them that is hooked up to your HVAC system. I haven't seen it personally but one of my trades has done this and he said it was very successful. I guess time will tell

[tinmack]

Velux skylights seem to be the choice around here. Yet I tend to agree with staying away from them in climates where you have old fashioned winters. They're noisy in the rain and hail, prone to incorrect installation, etc. I think if someone wants the energy savings/natural light scenario, build a sunroom. Keep the skylights out of the bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen. Build a nice, dedicated sunroom and you'll probably get more enjoyment out of that year round, regardless of the climate.

Especially if you have winters like the past one.....is it over yet??