Improving Natural Lighting With Skylights

Many homeowners see skylights as an added luxury to a home’s design. Skylights can add a mystical feeling to a room, allowing the natural sunlight and moonlight to flow through the home. If your home was not built with skylights, certainly, there is an expense to add this feature; but in the long run, they can be an environmentally green solution that will save homeowners money.

Ultimately, a skylight is simply a window, and there are many advantages to having them installed. Not only do they add beauty, and improve the look and design of your home; they are energy efficient and can make the home feel more comfortable throughout the changing of the seasons.

There is so much information available to homeowners these days that promise ways towards more energy efficient lighting; and it can become difficult for homeowners to decipher through it all.

Advantages of installing skylights:

A professionally built skylight has the ability to increase energy efficiency while reducing energy costs. More natural light comes into the home, saving money on heating and lighting expenses. The most energy efficient skylighting must be properly installed and strategically placed where they will be shaded during the hot summer months.

A professional installer will be able to determine the best location for skylights depending upon the local climate. For areas with more sun and longer, hotter summers; a skylight on a west facing roof is best to keep the home cooler. For homes in more moderate climates and colder winters; skylights with Southern exposure will help to reduce wintertime heating expenses.

Though single-pane skylights will help to decrease energy use in a home; upgrading to double-paned skylights is even more effective. Double panes can reduce heat loss by up to 15 per cent more than a single-paned skylight.

Skylights are most effective in areas of the home that receive very little natural light. In these darker rooms of the home; artificial lighting is used during the daytime as well as night. With a properly installed skylight, more natural light can flow through these rooms reducing the need for lamps, and other forms of electrical lighting.

Homeowners can think of skylights as an aesthetic improvement for a home; but these windows into the sky offer a lot more. Over time, a reduction in energy costs and lighting expenses allow homeowners to enjoy smaller utility bills and a generally more comfortable living environment.