Solar Tube
The Tubular Skylight

The Solar Tube allows natural daylight captured by a rooftop dome, to be guided down through a reflective tube to a diffuser at the ceiling altitude. Tubular skylights capture natural sunlight even during low daylight conditions. In the presence of clouds and when the sun is low in the sky, early in the morning or in the late afternoon hours

The Benefits of Natural Daylight

For rooms with little access to natural daylight such as bathrooms, hallways, kitchens, walk-in-closets or certain offices tubular skylights constitute a perfect solution. Recent studies show that natural sunlight raises the general feeling and acts as a productivity multiplier.
A popular add-on to the solar tube is a solar attic vent. Natural daylight is not only more pleasant to humans, it is also a a good way to save energy at home

Purchasing and Installation

There are a few manufacturers to sun tubes. Velux is one manufacturer based in Denmark with a US branch (veluxusa.com). A second manufacturer is Solatube (solatube.com). They both have products adapted to shingle roofs and tile roofs, with kit prices around $300. The kit is complete with all necessary parts along with the manufacturer’s instructions. Installation time can be a few hours to one day, you can do it yourself or ask a handyman to install the sun tube for you

There are add-ons worth considering:

• A dimmer to adjust the amount of sun light illuminating the room
• An integrated attic vent
• Integrated electrical night time lighting