Skylights allow plenty of healthful, abundant sunlight into your home while offering soul-satisfying views of the sky. Sun tunnels bring in brilliant daylight without the views. Four questions can help you select your better option.
What Do You Want?
Skylights offer many benefits, from mood-boosting to energy savings. Sun tunnels take very little room and can brighten dark corners of your home like a mudroom, laundry room, or half bath. Decide what you want:
- Full operation is an option with skylights; they can open to allow natural ventilation on hot days
- Sun tunnels transfer natural daylight into interior rooms, attic spaces, and dimly lit areas using a much smaller footprint than skylights
- Skylights give you a clear view of the sky
- Sun tunnels have lenses and tubes that allow light, but no image, inside your home
What Worries You?
If you are concerned about any aspect of either a skylight or sun tunnel, discuss your worries with your roofer. Avoid a handyman service or doing it yourself for either installation.
If you are concerned about a home improvement project spiraling out of control, go with the sun tunnel. Its installation is simple, unobtrusive, and modestly priced. A skylight can become an involved project, from selection to installation to finish.
Skylights offer many variations and options. If you worry over too many choices, the sun tunnel is generally limited to “flexible tube” or “rigid tube.”
What Height?
Distance between the roof and desired interior location dramatically affects the usefulness of a sun tunnel. For example, you cannot practically install a rooftop sun tunnel on a two- or three-story house and expect it to reach the first floor.
Skylights are ideal for cathedral ceilings or for second- and third-story rooms. They are installed only in the roof, so a skylight works if you have clear space between your roof and your interior.
How Much Do You Want to Spend?
Sun tunnels cost substantially less to purchase and install than skylights. Their installation is more straightforward and faster, and they offer flexibility by avoiding obstacles. A good roofer can install a sun tunnel in around two hours; a skylight may be an all-day job for a medium-sized roofing crew.
Please connect with us today at Straight Line Construction in beautiful Sacramento, California. We can help you choose between skylights and sun tunnels, but we also can provide expertise with all aspects of roof repair, gutter installation, and more.
