Benefits of Skylights & Solar Tubes During Roof Installations

So the time has come to replace your roof. Whether it’s sustained just too much damage from a recent severe weather pattern or your roof has simply out-lived its useful lifespan, you have the opportunity to change several things and possibly even add to the value and beauty of your home through this major investment. One way you can do this is by installing either a skylight or solar tube light into your home so you can utilize the plentiful sunlight to make your home feel more open while also saving money.

Both skylights and solar tube lights have lots of benefits, so it’s worth considering these options if you’re going to be installing a new roof over your home soon. Here are some of these advantages as well as some things you need to keep in mind if you decide you want to go with either one of these options.

Skylights

A skylight is a large window installed in your roof that can allow a large amount of bright, beautiful light into your home, and possibly even give you sweeping views of the surrounding area. Homes with furnished attics or lofts that run right next to the roof surface often love to utilize skylights as they can add a tremendous amount of enjoyment and beauty to their home while also keeping energy costs from lighting lower during daylight hours.

Skylights can have a tremendous benefit to your home’s resale value, especially when properly installed in an ideal place that can really take advantage of them, and good skylights can even do so while blocking at least a good portion of the sun’s UV rays thanks to screens installed in the glass itself.

However, there are downsides as well. Skylights can cost as much as $2,000 or more to install each, and they require a significantly greater amount of interior finishing to really get the look you’re going for. Second, their large surface area subjects them to a significant amount of heat gain, so you’ll likely want to find a way to cover them during the hottest days of summer. Furthermore, because they’re so large they also have a high potential for leaks. The flashing around skylights needs to be regularly inspected and replaced to prevent damage to your home when monsoon rains suddenly strike.

However, if you have an area that could benefit from having more natural light, a skylight or two could be exactly the solution you’re looking for. Talk to a Phoenix roofer to determine if your idea is a good one and start drawing up plans for your installation as part of your new roof today!

Solar Tubes

A solar tube is like a miniature skylight in that it has a window that’s exposed to the sky, but there aren’t any views to be enjoyed. A solar tube essentially has a windowed lens that captures natural sunlight and then bounces it down a reflective tube until it hits a diffuser that’s installed in the ceiling of the room you’re looking to illuminate. These are popular additions to things like walk-in closets, storage rooms, offices, or other areas of your home that may need a light source while you want to save money on energy bills. In fact, some solar tubes can even earn you an energy-efficiency tax credit in some cases!

Solar tubes are significantly less expensive to purchase and install compared to typical skylights, and require less interior finishing to get the look you’re going for since all you’re really going to see from the room its’ installed in is a light diffuser and mounting plate in the ceiling. On top of your roof, all you have is a dome-shaped window that’s installed and sealed. Generally, solar tube kits will run anywhere from about $300 to $500, and you purchase them with installation for about $550 to $700 total.

For more information about installing skylights and solar tubes, talk to the experts at Lyons Roofing today! Dial (520) 447-2522 to request a service estimate or schedule an appointment.

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