Expert: Richard Taylor, AIA - 6/3/2006

Question
Should the skylight on the roof face West or South-- I have a choice. Is one dirrection better for lighting? For this size room, what size (diameter) would be the minimul to "britten up" the room. Do I correctly understand that the rigid tubing style will give the same amount of light in the room as  flexible tubing? Thanks.
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Followup To

Question -
I want to install a skylight in my living room; the room is about 12' x 15' with an 8'x4' window on one of the 15' sides of the wall.The walls are not near light. I would like to 'brighten up" the other side of the room-- so I have given thought to installing a round skylight through the roof. (1) What size would be appropriate for this room: 12", 14" 18" 22" etc?. (2) Would a flexable tube type absorb more light as opposed to the rigid style? OR is that not a consideration. I believe that the flex tubing might be an easier install, but without ckecking the attic, at this time, I do not know.(3( Should this skylight be centered in the room; i.e. is the light bright enough to reach all corners? -- it will have a Western or Southern exposure and no tree issue? Or should I off center it? Any suggest as to where to purchase?

Answer -
Richard - thanks for your question!

In a room that size, any skylight will add a significant amount of light.  You're right, the tube-type skylight is much simpler to install.  They do have a big drawback however - you don't get any view of the sky.  It's a big difference - catching a glimpse of the sky makes having that hole in the roof a lot more enjoyable!

You should place it in line with the windows in the room if possible, more or less in the center of the room.

"Traditional" skylights also come in several varieties including ones that open and shut for ventilation - you can't do that with tubes either

Answer
Richard - that's information that you can only get from the manufacturer.  They should be able to provide you with the amount of lumens each type of skylight will pump into the room, and and idea of how much area a certain size skylight will illuminate.

It's a small room, though, and it shouldn't take much to brighten it up.

Richard Taylor, AIA