Velux sun tunnels

Our landing is vary dark and even during the summer we have to have a lightbulb burning all the time. No windows or natural light up on the landing save from a smidgin entering through the front door and up the stairs.

At the weekend we spotted a leaflet for this

Velux Sun Tunnels

I think we'd only need one, how DIYable are these things?

Presuming fitting would need external roof access so a tower at the least. I'm also confused about the difference in the flexible one and the rigid one (well, not confused about the difference - that's obvious, but confused about which would be used in a given application).

Anyone fitted one of these, how did they perform?

Thanks!

Reply to
Frog
Loading thread data ...

Also see this - has a dome to collect more light.

formatting link

Reply to
John

Interesting but what an awful website. None of their FAQs work. Hard to find out much about the product!

Reply to
Frog

I haven't used one myself, but my sister has one installed in her house in Sydney, where they are called 'solar lights'. It was fitted during the construction. They are quite common in Australia, especially in their bungalows with corridors with no windows for natural light. They often have a domed clear plastic top, unlike the flat one used by Velux. They work very well and just need dead flies to be removed occasionally.

I also watched one being fitted into a neighbour's house here in the UK last year, while a 2 storey extension was being added and the scaffolding was already there in place.

A number of roof tiles were lifted to establish a suitable horizontal location for the light between the rafters. The vertical location must have been determined by the position of the existing tiles. Battens were cut out as required, and the unit was installed with its weatherproof 'flange' arranged under the adjacent tiles.

The flexible aluminium tunnel is most useful where the ends of the system are not conveniently sited - which is probably most cases.

I could see that it was just possibly a DIY job, but I'm not sure if it would be cost effective if you had to pay someone to do the work though....

DJ

Reply to
David J

Should perform well if you can get the collector end in a nice unshaded spot.

Tubular skylight is one generic name for them , quite a number of differnt manufacturers around, heres another

formatting link

Reply to
Adam Aglionby

We have 2 of these, both fitted professionally whilst our extension was being built. Both have the flexible tunnel, stretched to the 2m limit. If you need longer than this then you need to use the rigid tunnel. The roof work required was fairly major, I'd think that you need to be pretty experienced at roofing work to achieve a satisfactory leak-free result, the fixture is exactly like a roof window, except it doesn't open. The effect is amazing, the bathroom which would otherwise be windowless is usable for most of the day without additional lighting. The one on the landing has a less dramatic effect as we tend to leave the bedroom doors open anyway, but I still wouldn't want to be without it. If you're anywhere near Woking you can come and take a look.

Reply to
pcb1962

LOL!

If you've ever been to Australia you'll know that the bl**dy flies get everywhere....

DJ

Reply to
David J

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.