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Solar Tubes

Lights_Guy3

Lights_Guy3

^ is MacGyver
Joined
Mar 3, 2008
Location
Brentwood
Moto(s)
2009 CBR600rr (hers), 2017 GSXR750 (mine), 2019 GSXR750 (also hers), 2025 Triumph Rocket 3 R (mine)
Name
Joe
Who has them?

What type did you chose?
How does it look?
What do you wish you knew before installing?

We're doing a remodel of our house beginning early next year and want to include more natural light. Solar tubes seem like an excellent solution that won't break the bank or require major roof changes like skylights. Plus Alameda has some requirements about skylights that would make retrofitting the roof on our 100 year old house cost prohibitive.

I want to have the tubes installed sooner rather than later because solar panels are going in by February. I imagine it would be extra headaches to work around the solar, not to mention the possible pitfalls of finding out we put a panel directly on the area where a tube should be.

The roof itself is only ~8 years old with 30 year shingles so I don't have to worry too much about that. But I will have roofers verify the integrity of everything before doing any kind of install.
 
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They pipe in heat as well as light; can heat up a small space a bit.
 
i don't have any but stayed in a rental house that had them in the bathrooms. holy shit, it took me a couple days to realize* the lights weren't on in those bathrooms it was just a sun tube thingy. i think there are some models that can be turned off or dimmed or something, i'd want that feature because i have sensitive eyes and sometimes prefer dim lighting in general.

*i'm not a complete moron i just have young kids that demand a certain amount of attention the keeps me from noticing some details :laughing
 
i don't have any but stayed in a rental house that had them in the bathrooms. holy shit, it took me a couple days to realize* the lights weren't on in those bathrooms it was just a sun tube thingy. i think there are some models that can be turned off or dimmed or something, i'd want that feature because i have sensitive eyes and sometimes prefer dim lighting in general.

*i'm not a complete moron i just have young kids that demand a certain amount of attention the keeps me from noticing some details :laughing
 
We have one in the hallway of our house. It pipes A LOT of light into our otherwise pretty dim center of the house.

Well worth it, IMO. Also, it's surprising how much light it accumulates even after you'd think it was too dark outside for it.
 
We have been "believers" for decades.

We had a cheapy one installed in our half bath some 20 years ago and love it as that bathroom has no window at all and without a light on in there it would be completely and utterly dark.

Attached is a photo I took just now with the door closed. Even on a cloudy/rainy day it is bright enough in there that no light needs to be turned on.

We bought a SolaTube (read expensive) for the dark entryway from the front door and it works great and we opted for the built in LED light as it went in a space where there was a light before.

When we added a walk in closet and bathroom to our master bedroom 2 years or so age we added one in each space, a cheaper option from a brand called Kennedy, with the light option, and to be honest, they are just as good as the much more expensive Solatube.

So we have three brands in this house and they all work great and we do not notice any heat coming through in the summer or cold coming through in the winter on any of them.

No water leaks either.

I highly recommend them.
 

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Yakoo752 said:
It's weird that the "Lights Guy" is asking for advice on lights :2cents
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This is about natural light!

I did artificial light! Don't judge me!
 
My husband installed one for some friends of ours a few years ago. It was above an interior bathroom with no windows. He was highly skeptical of it, thought it was a lot of work and expense for such a small hole, and he thought a skylight would be better. We were all quite pleasantly surprised with it when it was done. It let in way more light than any of us thought it would, and it looked really nice. Can't remember the brand but it was a quality item.
 
we plan on putting some in in the space between the front room and the dining room. we love natural light and have a skylight in an office area, that opens up for ventilation.

however, it leaks during a heavy storm like last week. i imagine the seal gets crud on it in the summer and then doesn't seal tight in the winter.
 
Lights_Guy3 said:
...I want to have the tubes installed sooner rather than later because solar panels are going in by February. I imagine it would be extra headaches to work around the solar, not to mention the possible pitfalls of finding out we put a panel directly on the area where a tube should be.
Click to expand...

Placement of tubes is probably more constrained, but it works both ways. Since the panels are somewhat elevated there's probably a minimum spacing so they won't block light to the tube. I'd find out what this is before the solar guy says you can't get the size you need and/or has to slap up panels where they are (significantly) less effective.
 
They're awesome, don't hesitate!
 
1footdown said:
we plan on putting some in in the space between the front room and the dining room. we love natural light and have a skylight in an office area, that opens up for ventilation.

however, it leaks during a heavy storm like last week. i imagine the seal gets crud on it in the summer and then doesn't seal tight in the winter.
Click to expand...

We had our first cheapy tube skylight installed two decades or so ago.

No leaks.
 
When we had our roof replaced we wanted to install skylights. Contractor said that they'd have to reframe the roof joists to make them fit. But he found 21 inch solar tubes. We love them, have 2 in the living room/kitchen area. If its daylight, we don't need any other lighting. Also, we found that, during lightening storms, they produce a really cool disco light effect. Neat to sit in there with some drinks and the music on.

Mad
 
Maddevill said:
When we had our roof replaced we wanted to install skylights. Contractor said that they'd have to reframe the roof joists to make them fit. But he found 21 inch solar tubes. We love them, have 2 in the living room/kitchen area. If its daylight, we don't need any other lighting. Also, we found that, during lightening storms, they produce a really cool disco light effect. Neat to sit in there with some drinks and the music on.

Mad
Click to expand...

Do you have any pictures you're going to share? Would love to see how they look on the ceiling inside.
 
Here's some photos of the various ones we have installed.

The square one is in my daughter's kitchen taken in very late afternoon which due to the number of trees, was quite dark even during the day despite having a window over the sink.

The other two round ones are two different brands, Solatube in the entry way and Kennedy in the walk in closet at our house during a normal sunny day.

But again, even late in the day before dark as the sun goes down, no need to turn on a light.
 

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