2 Traditional Window Alternatives That Will Make Your Home Lighter And Brighter
Posted on: 30 April 2018
Brightness and plenty of natural light are two important characteristics of modern homes. Most newly-built homes factor them in, providing plenty of windows in the right locations to maximise the amount of natural light that the home gets. In many older homes, this is not the case and creating a lighter and brighter home will require some modifications.
Often, replacing existing windows with larger ones or adding new windows to walls that previously had none can solve this problem. However, for some spaces, this is simply impractical or physically impossible. Bathrooms, laundries and hallways with limited external wall space or rooms that have no external walls will need a different approach.
Fortunately, it's possible to dramatically increase the amount of natural light without installing traditional windows. Here are two products that will help to light up even the darkest and gloomiest of spaces in your home.
1. Skylight windows
Skylight windows are ideal for flooding a dark room with natural light. They are installed by replacing a section of the roof with a specially designed window that can also be opened and closed to allow for increased airflow. Skylight window manufacturers have options for both pitched or flat roofs and a contractor can help you decide what's best.
Depending on the position of your skylight and the height of your ceiling, there are several different opening systems available. For a low ceiling, a standard manually opening window will suffice. For higher ceilings, you'll need a powered system that can be operated by remote control. These can be electric or powered by a small, dedicated solar panel.
2. Sun tunnels
If your ceiling and roof are separated by an attic space, then a skylight window isn't an option. However, a sun tunnel is another excellent way to increase the natural light in your home and they are designed specifically for this type of roof and ceiling configuration. These small but highly effective additions will provide a surprising amount of light to any room.
Sun tunnels are essentially highly reflective metal tubes that run from the roof line down to the ceiling of the room you wish to illuminate. They have a watertight, toughened glass cap on the top to let in sunlight and a clear or frosted light diffusing cap at the ceiling end. The sun tunnel captures the sunlight and magnifies it as it passes through the tunnel and reaches the interior of your home.
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