November 30, 2022

Skylights are a perfect way to bring natural light into the darker rooms of your home. In general, a skylight will bring in five times as much light as a regular window of the same size. This is because a skylight fitted to your roof will face the sky directly, as opposed to a regular window which is on a vertical surface and receives significantly less direct light.

However you should be aware that a skylight may create a thermal bridge in an otherwise well insulated roof and ceiling unless it is designed for optimal thermal performance. Therefore, understanding the “thermal performance” or “U-Value” of your skylight is a critical factor when comparing which unit is best for your home. Not all skylights are manufactured for the harsh Australian climate and not all skylights are the same.

The U-Value is measured like a golf score – the lower the better – with 10 being poor thermal performance and 0 being extremely good.

For example, a standard single-glazed aluminum window used in 90% of Australian-built homes has a U-Value of 6 or 7 (not good thermal performance).

On the other hand, our Keylite and INFINITI Natural Lighting Products are designed to complement the high-performance insulation materials used when building your home. Keylite boast the lowest U-Value of any off the shelf skylight on the Australian market today. Keylite glazing has a U-Value of 1.0, while the flat roof system INFINITI has glazing that boasts a U-Value of 1.5. Both these systems will complement your roof & ceiling insulation materials.

If you stand under a poorly-designed skylight in summer, you’ll feel the heat it generates. This means your air conditioning is working overtime to keep your house at a comfortable temperature. The reverse is also true in winter, as the heat in your home will dissipate out of an inefficient skylight.

 

Having a thermally-efficient skylight installed in your roof will help maintain a comfortable temperature and also save you dollars in the long term.

Learn more about the other amazing features of our thermally-efficient skylights by downloading the Keylite and INFINITI brochure.