A common priority among those who are building a new house or remodeling an existing one is of making the home brighter and also more energy efficient. Brighter could mean installing more electric light fixtures, but that has 2 major negatives. First, who wants to sit in a room with artificial lighting when there is natural sunlight available outside? Second, using more electricity for lighting during the day is far from being energy efficient. The way to get the best of both worlds is to bring in more daylight. Adding more windows is often not a viable option, but in almost all cases, putting in a skylight is. This gives additional sunlight during the day and does not consume any electricity. Traditional skylights are effective, but they do have their limitations and problems. Today’s homeowners are turning to the better option of a daylighting system.
Why Daylighting Systems?
• Windows are for both looking out and letting sunlight in. Skylights are only for letting light in – there is nothing to look at through a skylight.
• Daylighting systems are more cost-efficient than conventional skylights.
• They are more effective in bringing light indoors.
• Installing traditional skylights often requires major structural modification to the building. Daylighting systems do not.
• The heat loss in winter and the heat gain in summer through a skylight is significant and they can affect heating and cooling bills. There is no heat gain or loss from a daylighting system.
• Skylights can give light to the space directly below them. Daylighting systems can carry light to almost any part of a house.
• When there is heavy rain or hail, the noise from the water or hailstones hitting the glass of a skylight can be very loud and annoying. With daylighting systems, this problem will not arise.
• The roof-mounted domes that capture sunlight of daylighting systems are able to make the most of low-level sunlight as happens during winter and in the early morning and evenings.
• Daylighting systems offer more security. The roof-mounted dome is many times stronger than the glass or acrylic used on skylights.
• Skylights direct a ray of light to the area directly below them and the rest of the room remains darker. Because daylighting systems use ceiling-mounted light diffusers, the light they provide is evenly spread across the room.
• Harsh weather can cause the glass or acrylic in a skylight to become scratched and opaque, reducing the amount of light that passes through. This does not happen with a daylighting system.
• The common problems of condensation, moisture collection and seepage that happen with skylights are not issues with daylighting systems.
• Skylights are stand-alone fixtures, daylighting systems offer a range of accessories like ventilation systems, dimmer and electric lights for nighttime use to make them multi-functional units.
• There are other advantages to daylighting systems. Talk to Sunlight Concepts to learn more.
If you are planning to use skylights in your home, consider the major advantages that daylight systems offer. The available federal tax credit is an added benefit and makes installing daylighting systems a very cost-effective option. The key factors to keep in mind when installing a system are its quality and efficiency and how good the installation will be. As for quality, the first choice is Solatube, the world leader in daylighting systems. The company’s record of manufacturing to the highest standards and constant innovation has made it the market leader for many years. There is a 10 year warranty against workmanship or material defects. As for the installation, Sunlight Concepts, the Premier Solatube Dealer for the San Francisco Bay Area gives a 5 year warranty (3 years on tile-metal roofs) on its installation services. This means that the installation of a Solatube daylighting system offers many years of trouble-free sunlight availability. Offering such long warranties means that both the manufacturer and the dealer/installer are sure of the quality of their work – they know that warranty claims, if any, will be very few and very far between. To find out more about the benefits of installing a Solatube daylighting system, visit the Sunlight Concepts website. You can contact the company to have all your questions answered and to ask for a free consultation.
Comments
Post a Comment