Q–Our home has several “dark spots” that someone told me could be corrected by putting in solar tubes or solar pipes. As we understand it, these are 10 inches in diameter and act as a small skylight.
What’s your experience and is there anywhere we can actually see one of these in use? We live in the Will-Grundy County area. Also, how handy do we have to be to install these?
A–Let’s start with an explanation of solar tubes, also known as solar pipes or sun tubes.
While still hard to find, these illuminating devices are gaining in popularity and for good reason, as they require no electricity or mechanical parts.
Here’s how they work: A cylindrical reflective tube is installed in a home between the roof line and a ceiling, with a maximum distance of about 12 feet (a more typical length is about 6 feet).
Natural light is then drawn down the tube into a home to a ceiling diffuser, a sort of light fixture.
The thicker the tube, the more light that’s drawn into a room. For example, a tube with a 9-inch diameter can light a 100-square-foot room. One with a 13-inch diameter will light a 250-square-foot room.
Here are solar tube advantages: Once installed (the units start around $200), the light is free thanks to Mother Nature, even on cloudy days.
While drawing in light, solar pipes leave heat and ultraviolet rays outside. And they can also fit in tight places where a skylight wouldn’t be practical.
Finally, because they are round and require only limited flashing, they are a lot less likely to leak than a skylight.
On the downside, a solar tube is an ancillary lighting device–not a replacement for an electrical light. You’ll need some sort of artificial light for the space once the sun goes down.
And because the pipe can only travel a maximum of 12 feet, you can’t run one down from the roof to the first floor on a two-story home.
You also don’t get the view of the sky as you would with a skylight.
Here’s another downside: these devices are hard to find. A few manufacturers are available on the Internet, but you’re not likely to find solar tubes in a home improvement store.
If you don’t mind traveling a bit, contact Greg Miller, founder of the SunPipe solar tube in Northbrook (847-272-6977). He uses his home as a SunPipe showroom.
Miller says he created the SunPipe when his uncle requested more natural light in his kitchen but didn’t want the drywall shaft that comes with a skylight.
The most common places for a solar tube, he adds, are kitchens, bathrooms and hallways: “Anywhere it would be hard to get in a window or skylight.”
As far as installation, Miller says about 30 percent of his customers install their own SunPipes.
“You can do it yourself even if you never have lifted a shingle,” says Miller.
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