skylight tubes by Solatube

[GregO]

Hey,

Has anybody installed any skylight tubes? We are looking into installing one for our kitchen, but just wondering which brands folks might or might not favor.

Thanks!
Greg

[Mikey]

Haven't installed one yet, but planning on a Solatube for a small guest bath. A friend nearby had one installed a year or so ago and he and his wife are thrilled. Looks beautiful. I'm going to DIM, of course, but the dealer in Tampa has been very helpful. We're now waiting for my checkbook to refill.

I want the roof light-gatherer to be on the east side, and the bathroom is on the west side, so it'll be a longish run of the light pipe. Going to combine it with their vent fan as well, I think.

[jadnashua]

I've installed 3 Solatube skylights...been quite happy with them. CU did a review a long time ago, and compared the light quality...Solatube had the most natural color and the best light transmission. I haven't looked recently to see if anyone has caught up. Since I bought mine, Solatube changed from a parabolic reflector to a Fresnel lense on the roof to gather the light. The Fresnel lense is a little more efficient (and probably cheaper once you get the tooling done). They also added some things like internal light dampers for use in places like bedrooms, or maybe the living room where you want to watch a movie in a darkened room. The vent fan add-on option is now a low profile unit - mine is concentric to the light output and drops down from the ceiling a ways...the new one is much lower profile. They've continued to refine things, and are probably still leaders in quality and options.