Get the Most Out of Skylights

Sounds relaxing, right? These dreams can become a reality by installing skylights in your home! Skylights are a great addition in just about any room in the house, from the living room to the kitchen to the bedroom (and even the bathroom). If you’re ready to install a skylight or multiple skylights in your home, you’ll want to start by answering the following questions:

Where should the skylight be installed?
Consider the climate that you live in when choosing where to install a skylight. People that live in warmer climates should install skylights on north-facing slopes to prevent the house from getting too hot. If you live in a cooler climate, a skylight on a south-facing slope will help to warm up the house. If neither of the slopes are available, don’t worry; skylights that face east or west are considered neutral in terms of letting in the sun’s rays.

What size skylight is best?
The U.S. Department of Energy recommends that a skylight be no larger than five percent of floor area in rooms that have many windows. In rooms with few windows, the agency recommends that skylights take up no more than 15 percent of the floor area. Installing skylights that are too big for your room can compromise your home’s energy efficiency.

Should you add multiple skylights?
Keeping in mind the size recommendations listed above, you can choose to add one large skylight or multiple smaller ones. This is ultimately a style decision, so do some online research to get inspiration for all the possibilities in skylight design.

Do you want operable windows in your skylights?
Skylights are available as fixed pieces of glass that don’t open, as well as operable windows that allow fresh air to enter the room. That may beg the question, how would you even open a skylight? Solar-powered and electric skylights are available that allow you to open and close the windows with the click of a button. Manual skylights that open with a control rod can also be installed.

Do you want to install skylights with built-in shades?
Multiple types of shades are available for skylights. Room darkening shades are a great choice for bedrooms as they block out any light from entering the room. If you’re looking for a softer feel, light filtering shades can be used to diffuse direct sunlight. You can even get Venetian shades installed with your skylights for an elegant look that allows you to control the direction of incoming light.

If you need help in answering any of these questions, give Atkinson’s Mirror and Glass a call! Our professional window installers can help guide you through the process of installing skylights in your home. Call us at (208) 375-3762 or get in touch with us online. We look forward to hearing from you.