Selecting The Right
Skylight For Your
Home Or Workplace

January 18, 2023

When you are considering what type of skylights or natural lighting solution you need, you should first consider what purpose it will serve:

1.    To provide light to any poorly lit space in your home or workplace

2.    To provide light to a room where there are no windows – for example hall spaces, walk in wardrobes, ensuite bathrooms, storage spaces, etc.

3.    To provide an architectural statement in your living areas that give these rooms a perception of space and airiness  

4.    To provide additional ventilation in enclosed spaces like bathrooms and additional airiness to living spaces

5.    To help you save money on your power bill by providing natural light, ventilation or radiant heat

You will also need to consider if there are other implications or limitations associated with a preferred natural lighting solution for your home.

Acrylic Skylights

Fixed acrylic skylights are a low-cost alternative for delivering natural light into any interior space. They come in a range of sizes and incorporate flashings for all roof types, and can be supplied in clear, tinted or translucent (opal) formats.

Acrylic skylights are a low-cost solution for commercial workspaces like warehouses and workshops. They can be supplied in unvented or vented formats to allow passive airflow – for example to allow steam to exit from bathrooms or kitchen cooking areas.

Acrylic skylights are not an ideal solution if you are concerned about thermal performance as they allow heat to escape from your home in winter and enter your home in summer.

Acrylic skylights are not suitable for any residential area that has a fire hazard or BAL Rating greater than BAL 19 – for these areas Single Glazed (up to BAL 29) and Double Glazed (up to BAL 40) would be a required solution.

Tubelights

In smaller enclosed spaces like hallways and ensuite bathrooms Tubelights offer a very effective natural lighting solution and come in easy to install kit formats that require no expensive carpentry, framing or internal shaft work.

Tubelights come with ceiling diffusers that allow light to enter the space but not direct sunlight – ideal for walk in wardrobes and storage areas and any area where privacy is required. Tubelights are typically circular and come in 300mm, 400mm and 500mm diameters – with larger format Tubelights available for commercial workspaces.

Tubelights are low cost and functional but are not best suited in open plan and larger living spaces and tend not to be used when you are looking to deliver an architectural or design impact.

Tubelights can achieve better thermal performance that standard acrylic skylights by incorporating a double-glazed ceiling diffuser – and they can also be installed with glass tops rather than acrylic domes if non-combustibility or a specific local council BAL rating must be met.

Keylite and INFINITI Fixed Glass Skylights

If you are concerned about the thermal performance of your home then best to consider the Keylite or INFINITI range of high-performance double-glazed roof windows or skylights.

Double-glazed glass skylights are ideal for living rooms and open plan spaces and can add substantial value to your property. They can be installed as single units or in multiple coupled flashing arrays with internal light shafts to deliver a stunning interior architectural effect.

Double-glazed glass skylights are available in a range of sizes in both roof window (pitched) and flat roof formats. Keylite also offer provide higher levels of non-combustibility and BAL Ratings to meet more stringent local government requirements.

Keylite Manual and Electric Openable Glass Skylights

If ventilation is an issue and you want the flexibility of openable skylights, Keylite offers a variety of manual openable and electric remote control openable skylights.

If the skylights are within reach (if you were lighting up a ceiling loft, for example) then you may want to consider manual opening centre pivot skylights. Out of reach manual skylights can be opened by extendable poles (up to 3 metres) – for other applications remote opening skylights are the only option.

Electric opening skylights also come with rain sensors to automatically close if left open in the rain.

As with Fixed Double Glazed Glass skylights, Keylite also provide higher levels of non-combustibility and BAL Rated openable skylights to meet more stringent local government requirements.

Custom Solutions

If you have a particular requirement that is not covered by any of the standard products outlined above, you may want to consider a custom natural lighting solution for your home or workplace. Talk to one of our sales consultants today about how a custom solution could be designed and installed in your home or workplace.