A guide to Light Tube Skylights

Q. What is a Light Tube Skylight?

A. Referred to in the trade as a “Tubular Skylight” the VELUX Sun Tunnel® is a portal allowing sunlight into a dark area of a home or office. We usually use Sun Tunnels in bathrooms, closets or dark hallways often in the center of a structure where a skylight would be a poor choice due to the distance from the ceiling to the roof.

Q. How do they work?

A. By reflecting daylight from a rooftop flashing, through a highly polished or mirrored duct, to a ceiling-mounted diffuser.

It is amazing how much light a Light Tube Skylight brings into the room and what a change they can make to a home or office.

Q. Where do you install most Light Tube Skylight ?

A. Most common installations are in bathrooms and hallways, but kitchens and family rooms are close behind. Light Tube Skylights can bring light into the center of a home which is often beneath the tallest part of the attic.
They can traverse up to twenty feet through the attic.

They are a very cost-effective way to bring daylight into living space. We seldom install Light Tube Skylights in bedrooms and we rarely install only one Sun Tunnel on a home.

Q. What is the difference between VELUX and other brands of tubular skylights?

A. We like to think that VELUX Sun Tunnels are the best tubular skylights on the market. They offer a 20 year warranty on their reflective coating, which is a process other off-brand units have trouble replicating.

Beware of cheaper units as they often have trouble keeping the shiny interior of the ducts from crazing or separating from the metal over time.

And others claims concerning a percent of light transfer are difficult to verify.
We do not recommend the flexible tubing or shaft…it just doesn’t provide the light that the rigid product does.

Q. What sizes are available?

A. VELUX manufacturers three sizes of residential Light Tube Skylights, 10″, 14" and 22″.
We sell and install the 14″ primarily because it brings in so much light.
The 10″ is often used in older houses where the distance between the structural lumber does not permit a 14″Sun Tunnel.
The 22" is used mostly in larger areas or where the ceiling is higher.

The 14″ Sun Tunnel has literally twice the reflective surface of the smaller 10" units and brings in about twice the light. We also carry commercial Sun Tunnels in 14" and 22", They are more sutibale for a flat or low sloped roof.

Q. What does a Light Tube Skylight cost?

A. Installed we charge $1050 for a 10″ Sun Tunnel. That price includes the first four feet through the attic, each Linear foot of extension adds $38. Most of our installs need one or two extensions but we can traverse up to twenty feet through an attic with limited effect on the amount light delivered below.
The 14″ units are $100 more while the 22" units cost about twice that of a 10" unit.
However you can receive a 30% solar tax credit by adding a Solar Powered Night Light.

Q. What about at night?

A. As you might expect the Sun Tube Skylights really don’t bring in much light at night, and the light that comes has a blue tint. However, a light kit is available to make your Sun Tunnel a ceiling fixture when there is no daylight.

This internal kit hangs inside the rigid tubing and is suspended on stiff wires. A LED of almost any size can be used to light the room or hallway at night. We recommend using a 60 watt or 75 watt equivalent warm white (2700 Kelvin).

VELUX now offers a solar powered night light that will illuminate the area beneath the Sun Tunnel with about 15 watts of light. The real advantage; the solar night light makes the cost of entire Sun Tunnel, including installation, eligible for a 30% Federal Tax Credit.

Call for current pricing and take advantage of 30% the tax credit.
It can save you $100's of dollars.