Question:
I’m considering putting one or more tubular skylights in my house. There are numerous brands. If anyone has anything to say about any brand in regards to quality, installation, etc. I’d appreciate it. The brands I’ve come across include Solatube, Sun Pipe, Sun Tunnel, Tru-Lite, ODL/Vista (at Home Depot). Solatube has a great web site, and has a good reputation from people I talked to, but is more expensive. It also has kits to add lights inside the tube. Sun Pipe only has straight tubes (no elbows), but the top can go up to 3 feet above the roof line (which is useful for getting above roof ridges that could shade it), and has a silver coating instead of aluminum in the tubes. Sun Tunnel has a flexible tube that is no doubt easier to install, but I imagine it loses more light that goes through it than the other ones. Any comments would be much appreciated. Thanks. Doug Rudoff
Response:
I had a solatube installed in a bathroom that lacked windows. I opted for the one with the exhaust fan and light kit and am extremely happy with it. I do have a question though…. Do various brands give off a different color glow than others? This would probably be due to the type of piping they use. The one installed in my bath appears to be blueish, but it might be from the predominant color in my wallpaper. Can anyone advise?
Response:
what does one of these cost ? Installation?
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->I’m considering putting one or more tubular skylights in my >house. There are numerous brands. If anyone has anything to say about >any brand in regards to quality, installation, etc. I’d appreciate it. >The brands I’ve come across include Solatube, Sun Pipe, Sun Tunnel, >Tru-Lite, ODL/Vista (at Home Depot). >Solatube has a great web site, and has a good reputation from people I >talked to, but is more expensive. It also has kits to add lights >inside the tube. >Sun Pipe only has straight tubes (no elbows), but the top can go up to >3 feet above the roof line (which is useful for getting above roof >ridges that could shade it), and has a silver coating instead of >aluminum in the tubes. >Sun Tunnel has a flexible tube that is no doubt easier to install, but >I imagine it loses more light that goes through it than the other >ones. >Any comments would be much appreciated. >Thanks. > We have had a Solartube for more than 6 years and can’t say anything bad > about it! It was worth every penney we paid for it and it has survived > both Fran and Floyd with not a drop of leakage! > I would recommend that anyone considering getting this type of sky light > carefully consider getting a Solartube – The installation was done by > them (Solartube) in a very professional manner with nor problems during or > after it was put in!
Response:
>I had a solatube installed in a bathroom that lacked windows. I >opted for the one with the exhaust fan and light kit and am >extremely happy with it. >I do have a question though…. >Do various brands give off a different color glow than others? >This would probably be due to the type of piping they use. The >one installed in my bath appears to be blueish, but it might be >from the predominant color in my wallpaper. >Can anyone advise?
The claims on the web sites for Sun Pipe and Sky Pipe, companies that use some sort of silver coating in their tubes instead of aluminum as Solatube does, are that silver gives a warmer light than aluminum, so it is possible that you are right about the blueish cast to your light. — Doug Rudoff
Response:
I installed the biggest ODL (21"?) tubular during my kitchen remodel. The appearance is good, it doesn’t leak during horrendous storms, and the amount of light it puts out is amazing (almost too much of a good thing sometimes!). My installation didn’t go too well but that was mostly because of my mismeasurement which led me to place it so that it was just a bit too short to reach (<3/4") but not enough to justify adding the extension kit. I kludged a bit to get around that but it took me a while to figure out how to fake it. BTW, putting a 75W halogen flood into the lighting kit works much better than using a standard and lights everything very well. Overall, I’d do it again (but I’d measure more carefully!). — John McGaw Knoxville, Tennessee, USA —– —– This is not your average boring web site! This is MY average boring web site: http://www.public.usit.net/jmcgaw – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> I’m considering putting one or more tubular skylights in my > house. There are numerous brands. If anyone has anything to say about > any brand in regards to quality, installation, etc. I’d appreciate it. > The brands I’ve come across include Solatube, Sun Pipe, Sun Tunnel, > Tru-Lite, ODL/Vista (at Home Depot). > Solatube has a great web site, and has a good reputation from people I > talked to, but is more expensive. It also has kits to add lights > inside the tube. > Sun Pipe only has straight tubes (no elbows), but the top can go up to > 3 feet above the roof line (which is useful for getting above roof > ridges that could shade it), and has a silver coating instead of > aluminum in the tubes. > Sun Tunnel has a flexible tube that is no doubt easier to install, but > I imagine it loses more light that goes through it than the other > ones. > Any comments would be much appreciated. > Thanks. > Doug Rudoff
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