Solar Tube Skylight
Bring lots of daylighting into windowless rooms in the core space of your home by using these great performing solar tube skylights.
Do you have a out-of-the-way walk-in closet, bathroom, library or other occupied space that is either windowless or where you would like to introduce additional daylighting?
Because of the way most of our homes are designed, we can have quite a bit of core space that is dark and you always need to turn on lights to enter the room - even in the middle of the day!
Solar Tube Skylights can come to the rescue for you.
ODL Tubular Skylights Product Features
Patented optic technology gathers sunlight at all times of day
Reflective light tube has 95% reflectivity
Energy Star approved
Leak-proof flashing
Limited Lifetime Warranty
The Solar Tube Skylights usually employ a couple different methods to bring an amazing amount of light to a room or space below.
First: They have a Solar Lens at the top of the unit, which is exposed to the atmosphere and very efficiently captures low angle light because of a unique patented design.
Second: Most Solar Tube Skylights use a highly polished, almost mirror-like tube that reflects the light that is captured from the lens above and delivers the light to the space below by reflecting the light off this mirror-like surface.
Third: They utilize a diffuser on the bottom side of the unit that is located in the ceiling and looks somewhat like recessed can lighting fixtures. This diffuser spreads the light evenly throughout the space.
Most of these Solar Tube Skylights perform extremely well, and you will not have the need for supplemental light in the space until sunset. Even on cloudy days they transmit more than enough lighting to fill the space with soft natural daylighting. Here are some examples:
A standard 100 watt incandescent bulb produces 1200 lumens (that is the standard measurement of light and higher numbers indicate more light output).
A 40-watt, 48-inch fluorescent tube produces 2300 lumens.
Most 10-inch Tubular Skylights produce up to 3750 lumens. That is 3 times what a 100 wattincandescent bulb produces.
Most 14-inch Tubular Skylights produces up to 6500 lumens. That is 5 times what a 100 watt incandescent bulb produces.
10 inch Tubular Skylights compares to a 2' x 2' skylight and the 14-inch compares to a 2' x 4' skylight.
If you are a do-it-yourselfer, you can easily install one or more of these units yourself, otherwise it is an easy installation for a handyman or a qualified roofing contractor.
The Solar Tube Skylights come with all the parts you will need including, the dome, flashing, tubing, hardware, hole cutting guide, and easy-to-read instructions.
Even the largest Solar Tube Skylights are designed to fit between either 16" or 24" on center roof or ceiling rafter, which will include almost 100% of homes.
Kits include tubing for skylights, but the length varies by manufacturer. If you find you need additional tube length, extension tubes are readily available.
These kits include engineered roof flashing and when installed correctly, with provide a leak proof installation for many years. This flashing even adapts well to tile and metal roofing configurations.
Look for Tubular Skylights that meets ENERGY STAR® national thermal performance criteria. For instance the ODL Tubular Skylights meet the following specs:
The maximum U-factor to meet this criteria is 0.60. The ODL Tubular Skylight had a U-factor of 0.43. The lower the U-factor the lower the rate of heat flow. Less heat flows in or out so that both heating and cooling bills are reduced.
With its highly polished tube, attention to detail and Energy Star Rating, we select the ODL Tubular Skylight as the unit you should purchase.
ODL has been in the tubular skylight business since the 1970's and they know this product inside and out.
They have both 10" and 14" diameter units available with an assortment of tube lengths and a great warranty.
We have installed many of these units over the years and have had absolutely no problems at all.
