The green effects of using daylight in your home or office

Natural daylight is free, so it makes good sense to try and take advantage of this resource. But how do you go about this? One way is to install skylights in the roof of the room or rooms you wish to illuminate in this way. Take into consideration where you live and the positioning of your roof and current windows. Depending upon your geographical location, you may need more or less skylights. There are many different sorts of skylight and you must find the right sort for your needs, so do take advice from a professional. They come in many shapes and sizes, so with a bit of careful thought, even on a dull day, you can have enough light to work in. If you are using the flat window type skylight or domed skylight, be aware of how hot the room could get during the summer months, it might be a good idea to have one or two that open for ventilation. Do use windows which are double glazed and have a reflective coating as this will minimize heat loss from your rooms.

Light or solar tubes are another source of illuminating rooms and these are particularly useful in rooms which have only one window or no window at all, such as bathrooms or dressing rooms. Light is diffused down through a tube and is softer upon arrival. Also, there are not the same problems with overheating or excessive glare during the summer months with this method as there is no direct light coming in.

Artificial lighting costs a huge amount of both money and energy, so anything we can do to reduce this is worth doing. We all know that we should switch off lights when we don't need them and that we must reduce our carbon emissions, so this is a good way to start. Also, the health benefits of natural light are well known and people who work in natural lighting tend to be healthier and are less prone to conditions such as seasonal affective disorder. When choosing your skylights, choose those with frames made from wood or artificial substances such as plastic or fibreglass as those made from steel or aluminium are not so energy efficient. You may need to consider some sort of shading for the summer months but there is plenty of choice out there and you are sure to find a suitable solution. You will therefore be able to control the amount of light entering the rooms and so will remain in comfort.

Cutting costs and emissions is very important these days and whatever we can do to reduce these has to be beneficial. Skylights are a relatively inexpensive way of doing this. If you can, try and see some homes or offices where skylights have been fitted so that you can have an idea of how they could best work for you. However, do engage a properly qualified firm to advise you and fit your skylights or else you could end up out of pocket and have a leaking roof which would not be good.


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Cox Building products have been manufacturing roof windows for many years and offer a solution for all building types and requirements. Please see http://www.coxbp.com/