Skylights For Roofs: Idea To Illuminate Your Home With Natural Light
Top floor dwellings, or attics, often have some problems with natural lighting. The same applies to the upper floor of single-family houses. This is especially true if the roof is not straight but gabled. In this type of roof, the height of the roof in the area where it rests on the exterior wall is lower than the rest. In these cases, opening windows in the walls in a conventional manner is often problematic. In most cases, because the wall is not high enough for this. In other cases, because the windows would be too low. For both challenges, the solution is to install roof skylights.
With roof skylights, the windows will be on the roof instead of in the wall. This way, having a dormer or installing an office or bedroom upstairs doesn't have to mean less outside light. On the contrary, using square tubular skylights to bring light into your home is the perfect solution to have more natural light without reducing the strength of the roof or ceiling.
Roof skylights: what they look like
Roof skylights are available with different installation systems. And even opening systems. They are also available in different shapes: rectangular, square, pyramidal or round. The most common are the first two, because of the facilities they provide for opening if they have the necessary mechanism for it. Because you can also make fixed roof skylights. These will not have an opening mechanism and will function as fixed points of light.
The skylights for roofs that have an opening system can also be used for the installation of smoke extractors or mechanisms that facilitate the exit to the roof or the roof in case of having the necessary dimensions so that a person can pass through them.
Generally, this special type of window is flat or curved. In the case of the flat ones, they are mainly used for skylights that open. Curved ones can have one or two layers (domes), and are generally fixed. In addition, depending on whether you want to see through the skylights or just let light in, the glass can be transparent or opaque.
Opening systems: spindle and crank handle
Most types of skylights have an opening system. Thus, in addition to letting in light, they can also be used to ventilate the room in which they are located. However, they usually do not open like conventional windows. Instead, they open from the inside out, usually upwards, with one side attached to the roof or skylight base. The other three sides are raised at a greater or lesser angle. In this way they allow air to pass into the room, as well as facilitating ventilation. This opening angle is only complete if the skylight is designed as a kind of access door to the roof.
Among the manual opening systems for roof skylights, the most common are the spindle and crank systems. The roof skylights that use it employ a kind of telescopic spindle that is operated by a crank handle similar to those used for awnings. It is a system composed of a double-travel spindle that is operated by a crank handle very similar to the one used for awnings. This allows you to choose the angle at which the skylight will open.
In the case of a large skylight - usually those with a side length of more than 1.5 meters - a double system is installed which, with a single opening control, is able to move two spindles at the same time. This makes the opening system much more stable than operating them independently.
Telescopic opening: gives an exit to the exterior
If the skylight is to be used, in addition to providing light and ventilation, as a point for egress to the roof, it will need to have a telescopic opening system. For this system to work, the frame of the roof skylight and the skirting of the skylight are hinged together. In addition, the skylight is fitted with dampers to soften the impact of closing. Generally, it allows a much larger opening angle than other systems. This makes it easier to go out onto the roof for repairs, cleaning and maintenance.
As you will see, there are many types of roof skylights, and you may find that more than one will work for you. If you do not know which one to choose, it is best to contact experts in their installation and repair. This way you will receive advice on the type and format of skylight that best suits you in each case.
