Solar tubes are cylinders that flood natural light into homes to help reduce the use of electric lights. Also known as sun pipes, sun scopes, light tubes, and daylight pipes, solar tubes are usually installed on roofs and come through to the ceiling below. Let’s talk about some of the characteristics of solar tubes.
About Solar Tubes
- The concept of solar tubes isn’t new. The most common form of solar tubes uses reflective material inside the tube to help amplify the light inside the room below. A clear dome at the top of the tube lets sunlight in. Other systems use more complex technology, like optical fibers or fluorescent polymer layers. Solar tubes using technology that follows the movement of the sun have been installed in places like a subway station in Berlin.
- Solar tubes provide light coming directly from above, so you’ll get more sunshine. Solar tubes are better insulated than skylights or ordinary windows, though you won’t be able to see as much of the outside world. For interior rooms without outside walls, they can be a great source of natural light. Because of the way the technology works, they can actually provide much more light than a skylight that’s many times larger. Solar tubes can also be useful in rooms that require high security. It may not be an issue in your home, but useful in places like a police cell where regular windows could make it easy to escape.
- Electric lights use energy, and even with solar panels on your roof, it’s a good thing to save energy. Natural light also benefits health in ways that artificial lights don’t. Since solar tubes don’t require electric installation, they can also be useful in wet areas like bathrooms or rooms with indoor pools.
- The price of solar tubes will vary depending on your location, the type of roof you have, and the various features you choose (like an exhaust kit for a bathroom or a daylight dimmer that allows you to “turn off” your solar tubes). Brand name solar tubes could cost around $700, including installation and sales tax, if you have a standard composite shingle roof.
Florian Glass Service offers and installs solar tubes and many other glass products and structures commercially and residentially in the Hudson County, Bergen County, and NYC areas in towns such as Hoboken, Jersey City, Union City, Rutherford, West New York, Secaucus, Hackensack, Teaneck, East Rutherford, Kearny, Edgewater, Saddle River, Upper Saddle River, Short Hills, Lyndhurst, Fort Lee, Alpine, Manhattan, and many more! For more information, you can contact them today at (201) 863-4770 or visit the website.
