Are Solar Tubes Worth It? Are They Better Than Skylights?
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- čas přidán 21. 07. 2017
- Are Solar Tubes Worth The Cost? In this video I talk about what I love and hate about solar tubes. We have been using them for almost a decade and this video will discuss what we have observed over that time.
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#leaky skylights
Very informative, thank you. However it would definitely benefit from showing us the results inside the house.
We had a solar tube in our old house, and we have one in our new house. Works great, zero problems. Fantastic for lighting up interior hallways.
Just FYI, no UV light is going to make it through that tube. Transparent/translucent materials that transmit UV are actually hard to find and very specialized. Most glass and plastic will absorb nearly all UV light unless designed specifically to transmit it. So you will not be getting any vitamin D from using a sun tube. And if you notice fading or degradation of items near something like a sun-tube, just know that even visible light (especially blue light) is capable of causing photo-degradation.
I’ve been thinking of this as well, but couldn’t you place a couple layers of some type of UV filtering film at the bottom or top of the tube?
@@seedeangelo I don't think you quite understood what he's saying. The UV is ALREADY being blocked. There is no need for any additional filtering to keep out the UV.
great video , im thinking of installing some in my home for the interior rooms. but in a fiber optic bendable design. Thanks for the heads up.
Thanks for sharing this valuable information. I am about to install at least 10 of these in my studio, and your consideration will undoubtedly save me money and time. Appreciate it.
Great video . Thanks for sharing this information. I'm planning on installing one. Still not sure where.
Thanks for the detailed, to the point review.
Thank you for this information. It was very helpful.
Thanks for the kind words.
Thanks for doing this PC, very helpful.
Really useful video, thank you for sharing.
Hi Dear, This is great video in terms of technical information, also you shared the mistake happen so others can get rid off those. Very few people give such information. Thanks, Dear ..God Bless you :-)
Thank you!
You should add some motorized apertures where you do your thermal breaks. That way you could dim or turn off the light when needed. Then for your reflectors you could try some white flex-tape or vinyl industrial tape on the back side of the reflector. The white would prevent overheating and the vinyl would add extra weight and sound deadening.
1.05
I have fitted roof windows for over 30 years and never had a single leak. I have seen some leaks but they have always been due to a mistake in the installation. The major players their windows with high pressure jets and wind.
The only thing they should improve is that foam rubber strip on the deep tile flashing which disintegrates.
Also when I fit tubes I always wrap the aluminium tube in Rockwool
As a roofer, I disagree that any skylight will leak at some point. If neglected for many years, maybe but those tube lights would leak if neglected as leaks are usually at flashing and penetrations when caulking fails. The skylights unit itself, rarely if ever leak unless physically damaged (ie hail). IN FACT I get more leak calls on solar tubes than skylights now a days... Any cut into your roof increases a chance of leak. If done right and maintained every few years or so, should be fine!
I had a name brand 2x4 skylight installed and it failed in maybe 12 years. The seal failed and there was moisture inside the glass layers and it leaked into the house
.
The seals on our Velux skylight- about 2'x4'- failed. It was outside of warranty and we had it replaced when we had our roof redone, about 8 years ago. It had been in for probably 11 or so years and when it rained we had to use a bucket. The house also had 2 plastic bubble style skylights from 1987 where the seals also failed but only to the point of having condensation between the layers of the skylight. They didn't leak but were also replaced by glass ones during the roofing work.
Flashing a skylight takes a fair amount of finesse while a solatube may be a little harder for a DIYer to screw up. Also there have been some failures of the light itself that have caused roofers headaches. I find it interesting that you have been called to leaking solatubes. Is there a common problem with them?
Its sounds like you've installed quite a few Solar tubes. Which ones have the best thermal break? Which would you recommend? I agree the installer makes a huge difference but this video outlined some of the obvious problems with their engineering. I'd like to hear your view on some of the obvious problems.....and solutions...as a roofer of course
Builder here, I agree and I do prefer skylights when the space and budget allow them.
Neat video. I see a video of these on Facebook with the solar panels in them. I thought they were neat. But I learn to always do my research and this video helps.
Thanks David!
Thanks for the video. We're moving and I'm considering these for the space above the garage that I plan to use as my office. You've given me some great questions to ask. Any particular brand(s) you like?
The solar tube in my house is amazing and provides excellent light in an otherwise dim room.
Can you please tell me which tubular skylight system this is? I have a customer trying to locate replacement parts, and this video is the only thing I can find that matches their pictures.I second everyone on the Solatube though!! Great product!
Have seen solar tubes at my friends and families house, one in an interior bathroom, and another an interior hallway. They were amazing…so bright even on cloudy, grey winter days, and really transformed the space.
Thanks a lot bud, really instructive.
Thank you!
Great vid, how does it stand with snow from eastern canada. Usually get between 3 to 4m of snow during winter time where I came from in Quebec. Have to make sure got no snow accumulation on the roof usually 2 to three time during winter.
You did a great job of covering all the bases, very helpful!
Great review, very edifying, many thanks!!
Very helpful! I appreciate the info. Thanks for sharing.
Great video gave me allot to think about 👍
I've been seeing these on Facebook for the past two months and didn't realize we have them in Canada as well, looks awesome
Great video and review - appreciated man!
Go riders go
Thanks for sharing!
I love my two solar tubes. Had them professionally installed and they were great. Not a speck of debris left and no leaks after more than 15 years. Got a great reputable company. No burglars coming down them and the light is soft and just right for the area. Had two put in over large living area with windows that opened to cover patio which decreased the light. Depending on your needs, and wish I could tell you the brand but have found them to be the best work anyone has done for me. Hard in my state NM where anyone can get a license to anything as long as you can afford the license.
That's why I joined Home Stars, HS has a ranking system, I service Garage Doors, Gates, also do Buildings Maintenance, yard care and Security Services (Stop-Loss, After Hours Break-in Remediation)
I offer 40% to 60% savings compared to my competitors prices, and my Services is superior as judged by my clients reviews, HS encourages customer feed back, it is the corner stone of their (advertising) Business Model.
*"We are only as good as our last job."*
Should I contact a contractor vs. using the company I order it from, to install? Trying to get the best price!
Your video is much appreciated. I know I need some form of these, and already tried watching another handyman demonstrate installation, but couldn't watch more than a minute or two of it. Apparently his dog was filming it with his iPhone. The damned camera never stopped jiggling. I need to lie down now.
Love both sky lights and sky tubes, never heard of solar tubes before though.
Great video. What brand / kind do you recommend. We are in the NE USA. What side do we put the aluminum N, S E or West? How about cleaning does the plastic get foggy after a while? Do they make them with glass tops?
Velux makes a good unit. It has little to no maintenance. Follow installation instructions. Not sure about glass.
Thanks!
Has anyone had tons of moisture and condensation build up in these? We moved into a house and one is installed in the bathroom. As the temperatures are getting colder and warm showers, its full of condensation. Just wondering what we can do. There's only a fabric weather seal up top. Should the tube be air tight?
I'm considering installing 2 of these. I don't hear of one manufacturers product being superior but I know there are differences. Checking manufacturers websites they don't seem to address the moisture issues either and its so important
Hi sir, thanks for this informative video. Can I ask for further elaboration regarding the issue with thermal break? I don't quite understand that. Thanks.
ku syuk "0
Would have loved the video more if we were able to see the light indoors.
You should contact the manufacturer and suggest that they use stronger material for the reflector. They can change it to make it more sturdy and less noisy.
you could've installed a dome made out of aerogel to insulate the tubes. you could also put holes in the reflector to allow wind to pass through.
We ordered one installed for our central bath and it has a fresnel lens in the top and doesn't need a reflector. It will light the room on a moonlit night. Yes new visitors will try all three switches to turn it off. It is fiber tube on the outside and foil on the inside and only 16 inches long through insulation so not a heat transfer problem.
Thanks for the comment!
Does the light look natural? I’m wanting some for my kitchen and living room.
That sounds so cool lol.
Whats the brand name? They sound like they've solved the Thermal Break problem?
Do you have the brand for that?
I wanted to know how much heat do you get with this round skylight
Great vid 👍
Thank-you. I wonder why solar tubes are so much pricier for the thing itself (not the labor to install) versus a skylight that is 3 times the area.
My experience from owning an optical hole in the roof.
DONT , they all leak eventually.
If you want to be at one with the rain go ahead with it.
When mine leaks again ( sealed today again) I will replace the tiles.
Seriously not happy.
We've had 3 in our home for over 15 years. Zero problems, lots of light. THey are awesome and cost less than $600 each installed. They also have great solar powered attic fans. We use 2 of those. All about who does the install.
What brand? I just got an install price of $1400 for velux brand solar tube.
Would also love to know what brand/company used
@@dana-kn5tk SolaTube
Would you need to clean it from the roof from time to time?
How can we DIY these things?
Thermal issues were my big concern which you just confirmed. Is there an updated version?
In cold and freezing weather do solartubes generally have condensation on the inside side of the house / like skylights do?
Wassup, bro? Thanks for the video. 🙏
Excellent tips
one thing is confusing me. a skylight window is also a whole, square or round, like the solar tube. so both can be installed with the same materials, whatever you use to seal it. so why would one leak and the other not?
Wish we could see the lighting in your place
whats a range of contractor installed prices then the actual lifetime of quality light in lumens? or what ever uniform standard of light one would use /or happy with.. I know lots of variables,but just pick some. I live in PalmSprings Ca similar to Phoenix Az so its going to be abit different here as opposed to anywhere canada. The farther north of PS the colder,colder stormier too so that adds to the costs. Not free lights
Great video. To help you out with this topic, traditional skylights will NOT leak if you choose a quality skylight and a competent installer. The glass skylights will last for decades where your acrylic or poly solar tubes will break down faster and then leak and need to be replaced.
LOL. That would be funny to tell someone to please turn off the light in the bathroom and then chide them for not being able to find the switch.
I live in the Caribbean and it's been terribly hot lately. Do you think this type of solar tube would introduce more heat into the house?
Where did you go about getting the solar for your home?
I have these in my house for 25 years and never had a problem.
it doesnt leak when correctly installed, periodic check for tar cracks is necessary.
Thanks for your comments!
Where did you purchase the solar tubes? I’m in Calgary also. Who installed them for you? What is the approx cost per tube installed ish? Any help would be greatly appreciated
These are not Solatubes that are in this video
Thank you
Hi , you talked about thermal siphoning but I didn’t get the real down side of this effect from the video. Could you elaborate please.
I'm no expert however I'd expect you would feel a draft inside. Possibly, in an extreme temp gradient, you might see condensation??
Basically the heat energy transfers from to room into the polycarbonate dome. Now the air inside the tube warms up and rises to the top dome. The top dome warms up and since the outside is colder in the winter the heat moves from the dome to the outside air.
@Felica Wan i hope that helped
So how did you fix the syphoning? Cause it's a very big drawback
I'd like to know if you can use a small tube with a lense (concave or convext?) to refract light when it enter the house and then another lens inside to diffuse the light maybe over a 10 foot area on the floor? More importantly, I hate dark basements. I'm wondering if you can't use these tubes to go through the roof and then through a closet (so they aren't unsightly in the upstairs part of the home) and illuminate the basement with natural light. That would make the basement a wonderful bright space to live. I am in northern Alberta. I'm glad you mentioned thermal siphoning. I gets down to -40 occasionally here but is often -30 or colder in winter.
our sola tube has a diffuser at its base
I could buy 30 led lights for the cost of a tubular skylight, but they do look cool. If you had a glass in the middle and made sure the tube is completely sealed, I would think that would create good insulation.
Yes but then you have to put up with artificial light. Natural light is much nicer.
I would think you could also wrap the tube with insulation, and that should certainly help.
I like Solatube brand because you can also get the ones that give you a night-light at night from the integrated solar panel on it.... and you don’t get the outside heat or cold. And no, I don’t work for them.
D. G-T these have it also as an add-on
I put in 4 Solatubes on my house 18 years ago (Iowa) when the roof went on. We love them never leaked, free light. Now we have to reroof again
and I have to decided if I close up the holes or put new ones in, roofer says can't use old ones need new flashing (even though still looks new) Go with Solatube again or try Velux. Solatube changed the design on the ceiling so you can't buy that diffuser anymore and we broke ours while cleaning it, lucky I also had a 14in in the garage and switched with it so the one in the garage has duct tape on it now. I think I might try Velux, they have one that has aluminum flashing and one thats plastic I would think aluminum would be better Solatube is only aluminum.
Not looking forward to all this work! But I don"t think I could bear living in a dark house without natural light coming in.
UPDATE: A second roofer came and said the Solatube flashings are perfectly fine like I said in my first comment they look great,
heavy duty aluminum just goes to show you, get more than 1 estimate
What was the total purchase and insulation price? Then ho long should/will it last ...Not really free light.
I could not get solatube in my location and do went with velux. It’s been five years with no problems. They are a real house brightened.
got any brand recommendations for solar tubes?
www.elitesolarsystems.com We manufacture our own product in Chandler, Arizona 25 Year Warranty.
Go with a Solatube. www.solatube.com As a 28 year roofing Contractor they are the best around.
@@EliteSolarSystemsChandler If you sell Solar tubes. What about your thermal break? Why are your better? I agree the installer makes a huge difference but this video outlined some of the obvious problems with their engineering. I'd like to hear your view on some of these obvious problems.....and solutions. Why would you even post this without some kind of dialogue to address this guys concerns? lol
@@EliteSolarSystemsChandler Its sounds like you've installed quite a few Solar tubes. Which ones have the best thermal break? Which would you recommend? I agree the installer makes a huge difference but this video outlined some of the obvious problems with their engineering. I'd like to hear your view on some of the obvious problems.....and solutions...as a roofer of course
@@Triplepeaksroofing Its sounds like you've installed quite a few Solar tubes. Which ones have the best thermal break? Which would you recommend? I agree the installer makes a huge difference but this video outlined some of the obvious problems with their engineering. I'd like to hear your view on some of the obvious problems.....and solutions...as a roofer of course
Why not an interior view of the house?
Try Velux sun tube they are great
Put one in our kitchen to replace a 10w led bulb - based on light running 6 hours a day - in a mere 146 years we will have paid for the solartube👍👍
lights up nice n bright though.
Skylights inevitably leak? NOT! I live in Florida (LOTS of rain!) and have had skylights for 25 years between re-roofing, and never saw a leak. Neither have ANY of my neighbors or friends. I did also install a solar tube last time I re-roofed, so it is not that I am "bigoted", but telling people that skylights "inevitably" leak is WRONG.
That said, there are a LOT of reasons to prefer solar tubes (noise from rain is one!). But looking up thru my living room skylight and seeing the trees, birds, etc is also very nice.
Is It provide light only day time?
+Sangeeta Nag you bet!
It provides light whenever there is light outside.
If you put a light on your roof and shine it towards the solar tube it will provide about 10-30% of that light the same as the sun does. through them.
@@bonnivilleblackcherry9745 incorrect. Solatube reflects 99.7 % of what mother nature has outside and diffuses it around the area that it is installed.
Anyone ever put one where their old swamp cooler was?
Have you tried bubble wrap insulation
Why wouldn't you insulate these tubes with 1" or 2" of fibreglass & a barrier? In a place like Calgary, isn't it going to lose a lot of heat to the attic in the winter?
They go through an insulated attic. They need a transparent thermal break inside of them. The new ones come with thermal breaks.
@@VergePermaculture== Thanks. Our attic is insulated at the ceiling, but not under the actual roof (it's a 1/2 story or whatever you call it). I'm thinking about installing a couple of these, and I want to make sure they're not going to add to our heat loss.
Why can't the tube also be a rotating air vent, just enough to bring in a gentle breeze. Since your going through the work anyways.
There are several manufacturers of Tubular Daylight systems. The one shown here is not that great because of some of the issues talked about in the video. If you are looking for a quality product, Solatube Tubular Daylighting would be the way to go.
What about r value and thermal breaks?
GR8T Video... What CZcams use to be... Cheers and you RoCk
The thermal bridge might come from the tube itself, but in no way does the air inside the tube have any measurable effect.
Lately, when it rains, water finds it's way into the solar tube and collects on the ceiling lens then drips onto the floor of our hallway.
I am in a very dark livingroom and really need the sunlight. Husband sa,s no slylights
What tubes would you put in if you could do it over again, specifically?
Thanks for sharing. I was raised in YYC.
+Laura Jones thank you for the comment!
Awesome!
Do they add heat?
No, they do not add heat, that is one of their advantages, at least in the summer time.
With Avasva plans doing something like that was easy.
What is the cost of these?
It depends on the brand Dago. Around $600-$1000 each.
There are special considerations all over the world. Skylights are great, sure. But in my area, crime rate is something to take care of, and despite I need a few of these (and rains a lot, so I wouldn´t like to deal with leaks) I would rather go with several small diameters solar tubes. There is no chance someone is going to get through these, as it has happened with skylights.
You can still have a skylight but for security you should install metal bars or strips over the skylight but wide enough to prevent an intruder from entering. This way you can still have your sunlight.
@@spaceexploration4169 Sure, but then you'd see the bars in shadow.
Would have helped to see how the sunlight looks in his house, instead of just having him describe it.
Any office in India
with the low amount of electricity new LED bulb uses, is it even worth it to install these things?
NO
I hate led light.
If you do a crappy job putting skylights in maybe they leak, but if you do general maintenance they won’t
I didn't know you can get D vitamins through glass. Is that really true?
I suspect not; glass is opaque to a lot of the UV band that tans you.
Never mind that IF UV gets in, your floors will fade, rugs, etc.
Did anyone install a solar tube in a staircase to brighten the 1st floor from the 2nd floor? I am wondering if that would work.
Exactly what I'm going to ask my installer.
Yes, light travels that far.
Video fail---no video of how they light up the inside.
True, if the purpose of the video had primarily been to sell the concept of solar tubes, but it wasn't. It was to clarify to those who are already aware of the tubes and are researching installation and attendant issues. This wasn't a beginner video, but for the person already in the market. They all bring in bright light. That's known.
how do you turn the light off at night?
+happy girl the sun goes down. Plus, we don't put them in bedrooms. Some models have dampers.
Some who have planned poorly, keep grocery-store type paper bags handy to put over their head.
R-100! 😯 Bro!!!
Parans Solar Lighting is also an (tbh better) sunlight-company
Why? Thermal Break addressed?
it's exponentially more expensive and a lot harder to get your hands on. Plus they need power supply.