Tubular Daylighting Devices Bring In Natural Light
More advanced and less pricey than traditional skylights, TDDs are the most modern way to let the light in
Lindsey M. Roberts
31 March 2012
I write about interior design and architecture, and take what I learn into my own home (you may find me sanding and painting a kitchen table on the weekends). You can find my articles, published in Apartment Therapy, Architect, Eco-Structure, GRAY, Preservation, The Washington Post and more, at lindseymroberts.com.
I write about interior design and architecture, and take what I learn into my own... More
Natural light is one of a home's best assets. It can make you see better and feel better. It can decrease depression and improve your health. As the Greek philosopher Plato said, albeit in a different context, "We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." The newest, sleekest way to bring natural light into your home is with a tubular daylighting device — a narrow tube that unobtrusively shines daylight into dark rooms.
Tubular daylighting devices (TDD) also reduce the number of fixtures you need in a room, thereby saving you electricity and money. Solatube International, which manufactures TDDs, also says that the tubes are time and cost efficient: A professional can install one in two hours, and they cost less than installing new windows or traditional skylights. Payback varies, but for an average cost of $500, you could see economic benefits in a few years, Eco-Structure magazine reports.
The skylights are reflective cylinders or pipes installed between the roof and ceiling, with a clear plastic dome. The bottoms of the tubes are diffused or glazed to prevent glaring beams of light and to ensure a soft glow.
Garrison Hullinger, of Garrison Hullinger Interior Design in Portland, Oregon, loves to put these tubes in his clients' bathrooms, because the natural light creates a serene spa atmosphere. But they can go in just about any room of the house.
Tubular daylighting devices (TDD) also reduce the number of fixtures you need in a room, thereby saving you electricity and money. Solatube International, which manufactures TDDs, also says that the tubes are time and cost efficient: A professional can install one in two hours, and they cost less than installing new windows or traditional skylights. Payback varies, but for an average cost of $500, you could see economic benefits in a few years, Eco-Structure magazine reports.
The skylights are reflective cylinders or pipes installed between the roof and ceiling, with a clear plastic dome. The bottoms of the tubes are diffused or glazed to prevent glaring beams of light and to ensure a soft glow.
Garrison Hullinger, of Garrison Hullinger Interior Design in Portland, Oregon, loves to put these tubes in his clients' bathrooms, because the natural light creates a serene spa atmosphere. But they can go in just about any room of the house.
The difference in this bathroom between no TDD, with electric lights from sconces turned on, and a TDD, electric lights turned off, is eye opening. And the more you keep your lights off, the more you save in electric costs.
Designer Garrison Hullinger put a skylight in this project's bathroom, adding to the feeling of the outdoors brought in.
TDDs can be installed on almost any roof. And unlike large skylights, they keep a fairly low profile, even if they can be seen from an outdoor space, as in this house.
In this close-up of a Velux Sun Tunnel, you can see the clear plastic dome on top of the reflective cylinder that is installed between the roof and the ceiling.
A shower with a solar tube shines brightly, even without electric lights.
A TDD in a kitchen, combined with canned lights, makes the space warmer than the canned lights would alone. If multiple TDDs are installed in a space, reducing the use of electric lights, it also reduces the room's heat gain, says SolaDesign Systems, another maker of TDDs. This can save even more electricity and money by lessening the need for air conditioning.
If you don't like the way the TTDs look from the inside, you can always recess part of the ceiling and then install multiple ones, so that they go fairly unnoticed.
Tell us: If you could install a tubular daylighting device in one room of your house, which would it be?
More:
Expert Lighting Design Secrets
Get the Lighting Right: 8 Mistakes to Avoid
12 Ways to Light Your Kitchen With LEDs
Tell us: If you could install a tubular daylighting device in one room of your house, which would it be?
More:
Expert Lighting Design Secrets
Get the Lighting Right: 8 Mistakes to Avoid
12 Ways to Light Your Kitchen With LEDs
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I have several and love them. They provide wonderful daylight and moonlight. They do not heat up the house. They don't leak. They make the house much lovelier because dark, shadowy rooms are gloomy. I have had a total of 5 in 2 different houses. However each of them cost $900. Where are these $500 ones that I read about ?
Several people have asked if they work as well on a north facing pitch of the roof. No, they do not. The south facing or east facing ones are brighter. But it depends upon how much the very dark room bothers you or you would not be thinking about installing one. I have a south facing one in a bathroom-fabulous and a north and a west oriented one in a very dark dining room. Despite having one double west window and a single north window-but both double hung- that room was gloomy. No one ever went in there in the daytime as it was just depressing. Now it is more cheerful though not brightly illuminated.
I have 5 of these tubes in a mid-century ranch tract house. One brought a lot of extra outside light to a basement stairwell that was very dark and also brings in some light to the basement. I had one installed in the master bath, with a night light (solar). It really helps at night not to turn on the light when going to the bathroom, but also brings in light during the day, since the window in the bathtub area (this bathroom is tiny for a master) doesn't bring that much light in except late in the afternoon.
The two in the hallway are really nice, because the hallway has artwork and an ornamental persian rug on the walls and they can be seen a lot better, but it also brightens the transition area up quite a bit. The last I had put in the kitchen almost over the range, because the kitchen is dark due to an addition that was added on.
This is where I would like to make a change. I would like to remodel the kitchen, but am uncertain about certain aspects. I'd like to actually put a full skylight that opens in, which means changing the lighting. I want to change the cabinets, pantry and island, which don't work for us. I also would like to have a structural engineer come in to help to open up the space more by adding structural support so I can open up the kitchen/dining room more to the addition, which has a lot of light coming in and would brighten the space. I almost think I'd need to go on vacation for a portion of the remodel. I'm not concerned about the cooking since I added a small kitchen in the basement laundry room with eat in nook.