The Placement of Skylight Windows in Your Home Can Make a Huge Difference
Scenic views, energy efficiency, sound reduction, wind resistance, natural light, and ventilation — there are limitless reasons on why your newly constructed or renovated home could benefit from a skylight.
Selection
Your needs should be carefully assessed when you select a skylight for your home. At Bright Window Specialists, in partnership with Solar Innovations, we deliver custom-fit skylight solutions of all shapes, sizes, and styles more than the three general types available — fixed, ventilating, and tubular.
Fixed
Fixed windows are your go-to if you only want an additional light from a fixated opening. They are relatively the most common, easiest to install, and usually remain shut and sealed with no water leakage if furnished perfectly. You can adorn your dimly-lit attic, hallways, or living room with a classic, curvy statement of dome or barrel vault skylights. For snow run-off, pyramid or double-pitched skylight windows with multiple angles works perfectly.
Ventilating
If you want daylight with increased airflow, choose ventilating skylight windows. Rather than fixed, you can open and control them manually or mechanically with motorized components. Embed them with automation options like temperature sensor, remote control, and actuator for your easier operability.
Ventilating skylights are ideal for your kitchen and bathroom to reduce condensation and mitigate moisture build-up from humidity. For an emergency exit with copious amounts of daylight, Solar Innovations 90° operable skylight fully expands 100%. You can also utilize Solar Innovations retractable skylights for their improved thermal performance.
Tubular
Tubular skylights, or sun tunnels, are circular-shaped solar collectors that bring daylight to your relatively compact, interior spaces. Use walkable skylights with non-slip material in high-traffic zones where you need visibility above or below like basements and patio decking.
Placement
One of the critical factors that you have to consider with skylight installation is its proper placement. You can minimize or maximize your daylight levels and passive solar heating by properly positioning your skylight windows. When flawlessly executed based on sun-path orientation, this leads to your decreased energy bills.
North-facing skylights receive fair and constant illumination levels with indirect sunlight, while south-facing skylights are ideal for winter solar heat gain with a drawback on unwanted solar heat gain during summer. You can get the most out of your morning light with east-facing skylights, and afternoon light oppositely with west-facing skylights.
Glazing
Your skylight windows can either be glazed with plastics or glass. Plastics like acrylics and polycarbonates usually become brittle and discolor over time, leaving you with high-maintenance costs. Although more expensive upfront, safety glass like tempered and laminated glass can provide you greater structural integrity and high-impact resistance due to the polyvinylbutyral (PVB) layer sandwiched in-between the low-E, insulated glass panes.
Installation
Good or faulty installation can make or break the optimum performance of your skylight windows. Other than the selection, placement, and glazing, consider also the slope, moisture control, and other issues that could arise out of the skylight installation.
Slope greatly affects how your skylight windows can optimize winter or minimize summer solar heat gain. Low-slope skylight means more heat during summer and less warmth during winter. To avoid this, the general rule of thumb is to add five to fifteen more degrees to your slope’s geographical latitude. Moisture leakage can be effectively mitigated if your skylight windows are mounted above the roof, installed with waterproofing layer over flashing, and the joints are sealed tight.
If you would like your skylight windows to operate at a maximum efficiency, choose Bright Window Specialists for high-quality installation. Browse our website or visit our showroom at 135 East 57th St 18-106, New York.