If you’re looking for a new way to bring some extra light to a room, you may want to look into Solar Tube Rooflights. Don’t worry, they’re nothing like solar panels, and don’t generate electricity, no matter what their name might suggest. Sometimes referred to as “sun tubes”, they’re a great way to transform a dark room into a bright living environment, even if a regular roof light or window isn’t an option.
They’re also a possibility for flat roofs, and internal bathrooms or kitchens which can suffer from lack of natural daylight. You could even have one installed into your basement!
So what are they? Essentially, they’re a silver pipe which reflects the sun’s rays down the tube into your room. They gather the natural sunlight on your roof, and transfer it down the reflective tube into the room below. All you’ll notice on your roof is either a short chimney stack type pipe protruding slightly to collect the rays, or what looks like a very small Velux window on the roof, which covers the small chimney stack. Inside the stack, you’ll find the top of the silver pipe, which catches the sun’s rays.
Once inside the tube, the reflective pipe is angled at 15 or 45 degrees, and much like a periscope, angles the light down the tube to its destination – your room – where it is diffused beautifully around the space below.
Obviously, because they need to be installed into a roof, you’ll need a company which specialises in roofs to carry out the work, and JMS Roofing are more than qualified to do that for you. Any roof where a solar tube is going to be installed will need to be checked before installation begins, which is why a specialist company is the only sensible route if you want to be sure the work will be completed safely.