Installing Skylights

Benefits of Adding Skylights to Your Home

In addition to the benefits that installing skylights will have on your mood, there are many other advantages that come along with having skylights in your home.

• Getting rid of mold and mildew. Sunlight is one of the best killers of mold and mildew, which thrive in dank and dark conditions. The extra sun that enters your home through the skylights will disinfect your home and help reduce the buildup of mold and mildew.

• Increasing energy efficiency. By decreasing your home’s dependency on artificial sources of lighting, you can decrease your electricity usage. In addition, if you choose tinted skylights, they will absorb the incoming solar radiation, further insulating your home and reducing your energy bills.

• Ventilating your home for improved air quality. Inferior air quality is one of the biggest triggers for respiratory conditions like asthma. Improper ventilation results in stagnant air in your home. By installing a ventilated skylight, you can cycle air through your home so that you can breathe cleaner, fresher air.

Glazing Material for Your Skylights

Now that you’ve recognized the many benefits associated with skylights, it’s time to choose the material you want for your skylights. Here are two of the most common skylight glazings:

• Plastic glazing.  Many homeowners choose plastic glazing because of its more affordable cost. Because many plastics will allow ultraviolet (UV) rays, which is a known carcinogen, into your home, if you choose plastic glazing, it may be wise to coat the glaze with a protective film that will limit the amount of UV rays that enter your home.

• Glass glazing. Although glass glazing tends to be more pricey, it is generally more durable than plastic glazing. The glass used in skylights is usually tempered or laminated, meaning that if the glass breaks, it won’t break into sharp pieces that could potentially harm people when it falls down. Also, tempered and laminated glass is more impact-resistant, reducing the likelihood of the glass breaking in the first place.

Skylight Shapes

Have you ever thought about what you want your skylights to look like? It’s important to keep the style of your roof in mind when selecting the type of skylight you want for your house. Check out some of the shapes that you can choose from:

• Tubular skylights. Tubular skylights are rounded and bring sunlight into the home through a tube which includes light collectors. Because tubular skylights tend to be smaller compared with other skylights, they can be designed and installed to have little impact on the overall architectural design of your home.

• Warped plane skylights. A warped plane skylight has glazing which is flat on the lower side and concave on the higher side. These skylights can effectively capture natural sunlight through its unique shape.

• Pyramidal skylights. The elevated design of the pyramidal skylights provides flexibility in the placement of installation because it lets incoming light enter from multiple angles as opposed to only through one angle with a flat skylight. The raised quality of pyramidal skylights also prevents leaves and debris from collecting on the skylight.

Selecting the right skylights for your home can be daunting. You can talk with a contractor from a home improvement company like AROCON to discuss what types of skylights you are looking for that would best suit your home. Your contractor can give you recommendations based on the style of your home and your personal preferences.