# Forum Home Renovation General Odds & Sods  Skylights

## seamus1

Hi guys
We need to put a skylight in our longeroom/kitchen...whats the go these days ?? Are the round ones better than the square ones now??  We need one that has the tube that comes down thru the ceiling as dont have raked ceilings??  Has anyone found them to be too warm in the  Summer??  Any suggestions appreciated
Cheer Seamus

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## anawanahuanana

G'day Seamus.
I put a round one in with a metallic flexi-tube and frosted plastic diffuser in our kitchen last year. It is the brightest thing on earth! Does a fantastic job and we haven't had any problems with heat coming down through it. We'll be putting another one in (in the hallway) when the summer goes away and I'm game to venture up into the roof again..... :2thumbsup: 
It was just one of the Abey ones from Bunnies.

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## Jacksin

My home already had 500mm square skylights installed when I bought it.  
They compensate for the big back colourbond veranda, letting in ample light during winter but in summer they get incredibly hot, so I slide a piece of thick cardboard in above the diffuser. 
I have seen the smaller round 'sola-tube' type installed and to me they seem much brighter to the point of being blindingly light.

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## chuth77

I guess one of my biggest concerns is how they handle hail....

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## seamus1

thanks heaps guys, looks like round ones are the go...no one had any trouble with leaks??  Cheers Seamus

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## Ashwood

Hi Seamus, 
Even with round skylights, there are different types & different quality. 
Cheapest ones you buy in any hardware supplier incl. Bunnings, with the flexible foil duct. The dome and diffuser will be lower quality as well. Then you have branded ones like Solatube (which I found to be excellent in terms of quality and options/accessories). Their starting range (Econotube) is like the above, but a little higher quality. Then their midrange one, with a solid aluminium tube (Heavenly something??, they call it), and finally their top-end (Infinity) with the same solid tube but with a super reflective coating.  
Also, size 300 mm or 400 mm. So lowest quality and 300 mm would start from $100++ self install while 400 mm highest quality and installed for you would be $900++ What should you go for? 
Depends on what you want and what your roof profile is. If you don't need that much light &/or if the distance between the roof tile/sheet and the ceiling is minimal (eg. 300 to 500 mm), then you can consider the cheaper options. If you want to maximize the light coming in and/or if the distance between the roof & ceiling is quite large (eg. >600 mm) , then you may want to consider the more expensive ones. Of course, the better ones have better diffusers which look nicer from the interior as well. 
For my own, I went for the Solatube, midrange (Heavenly ...., sorry i forget the name), and it's a really high quality fitting.  
Re leaks, the system itself won't leak, but watch that the installer does a good job with the roof tiles around the soaker tray. I wasn't too happy with the way my Solatube installer cut one tile next to the soaker tray (large vertical gap between the soaker tray & botton of tile) as it was a potential for leaks in a heavy rain with very strong winds, so I improved it a little.  
Another thing to ensure in the install is that the diffuser ring is siliconed (ie. to create a seal), to prevent dirt from the roof cavity coming into the tube/diffuser. A place I rented in the past had a skylight diffuser which always had dirt inside (even after I cleaned it once) after strong winds, and after seeing the Solatube installer silicone it, I now know that the rented one didn't have that seal. 
Hope this helps.

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## anawanahuanana

Here is a pic that shows the sort of light level it lets in. This was taken on a spring morning, around 08:00. It is on a north facing part of the roof. 
p.s: Photo taken before I put the new kitchen in!

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## wildfire

Concept Skylights allow a bit of flexibility, they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. If you dont see what you like on their site, they will design something else for you. Check www.conceptskylights.com.au They can either send out the kits with the ceiling skylight and diffuser, flexible shaft for your roofspace and the roof skylight. You can either install it yourself using their guide or if you dont feel confident with that, you can get a tradie to install it. 
I had a mate get one installed and he's pretty happy with it, they are easy to clean and really compliment the room cause he had one designed to suit his kitchen shape. Its definitely worth a look.

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