Sola-tube sky lights

Tom Gardner fired this volley in news:mnb0uq$8lv$1 @speranza.aioe.org:

Tawm, We have six such (but an 'builder brand' alternative to SolaTube brand). So far, the ONLY drawback I have seen has to do with my fear of the skylight portion of ours being broken in a windstorm. (ours have a more- traditional glass skylight top, rather than the plastic dome of a SolaTube brand).

There's _almost_ zero heat-gain during even the hottest parts the day with overhead sun, VERY bright interiors, and virtually zero maintenance (remove the diffuser and clean out the little bugs that get in there inevitably).

Ours are now over 15 years old, and I cannot (visually) determine any loss of performance or deterioration.

I have heard of the 'duct' of SolaTubes hardening and cracking if mechanically disturbed... but I wonder why you'd ever disturb one, once it's in place.

Lloyd

Tom Gardner fired this volley in news:mnb0uq$8lv$1 @speranza.aioe.org:

Oh... there IS a major downside I forgot about.

Any "roof penetrating" modification is best installed at construction time or during re-roofing. INEVITABLY, a retro-fit on an existing roof will end up leaking, because nobody is willing to 'weave' shingles anymore.

If the job were _really_ done right, it would be just as good on an existing roof as on a new one. But that just never happens anymore in today's G.A.S. construction trade.

Lloyd

My dad installed these. They leaked and ruined a bunch a sheet rock. He was sorry he did it.

On another note, Tom would you send me your new email address karltownsendembarqmailcom

Karl Townsend fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Just to be clear, Karl, it CAN be done correctly. Unfortunately, modern construction folks think "BlackJack" is a substitute for proper flashing and weaving.

Lloyd

The window company I worked for about 15 years ago was an authorized installer of the "sola-tube" sky-lite, and if properly installed they were fantastic. You could only buy them installed by an authorized installer at that time - and I believe it was for good reason. Too may ways to do it wrong and screw things up.

Done right they didn't leak, no condensation problems, and very effective at bringing in light from outside.

snipped-for-privacy@snyder.on.ca fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Yup! The 'conventional way' seems to be to sabre-saw a hole in the roof and "bull" the flange down until it looks like there's 'enough' Black- Jack to seal it up. And then, of course, there never is.

But yes. Done right, there's no reason nor particular mechanical aspect of them that could ever leak, unless something got broken by wind-driven objects.

Lloyd

I haven't installed any, but I've seen a LOT of them and talked about them with lots of clients. DEFINITELY get a frosted diffuser, as the direct sunlight coming down that shiny metal tube is extremely bright. Most setups come with the diffuser rather than a clear bottom lens.

The polished stainless sheetmetal tubes work much better than either galvanized tubes or the flexible tube type, which are cheaper.

What I don't like about skylights and solatubes is that the entire room will be very, very bright until a cloud comes along, and it will go nearly dark. This is 5x more pronounced than you experience with plain windows. Days with scattered clouds are like living in the shadow of a wind turbine.

I've seen better luck when they are installed on the north side of roofs. They produce less light, but are far less stroby.

Bottom line: skylights are nice, but I wouldn't want to live with one. We get lots of scattered cloudy days here.

We have them, and ours leak. BUT -- we have a raised-seam metal roof, and the people who installed ours no longer install them on such roofs. I think there's a connection...

I've had mostly good luck using roof pipe flashing boots to seal other things such as solar panel supports. The one leak from a dumb shingling mistake ran through a ceiling light opening onto my just-paid-off home mortgage papers.

When their kids were young, my S&BiL put in skylights and lined the ~3ftx3ft tunnels to the roof with mirrors.

As a result, the kids could watch the moon and stars drift by as they went to sleep.

They loved that.