4 Ways Skylights Can Lower Your Utility Bills
Few home upgrades can transform a space quite like skylights. They brighten up rooms, create a sense of openness, and allow you to enjoy natural sunlight year-round. But while the aesthetic boost is a wonderful benefit, skylights can also significantly reduce your energy bills.
Let’s explore just a few of the ways they can help you lower your utility costs:
- Reduce the Need for Artificial Lighting
One of the most obvious benefits of skylights is the natural light they provide. In rooms that would otherwise need artificial lighting during the day, skylights help reduce the reliance on electric lighting.
By illuminating a room with natural sunlight, you’ll find yourself using fewer lamps and overhead lights, leading to significant savings on your electricity bill. - Improve Passive Heating
Skylights can also be used to improve the passive heating of your home. During the winter months, the sun’s rays can naturally warm up your living space, reducing the need for artificial heating.
By placing skylights on the southern side of your home, you can capture sunlight during the colder months, allowing the sun’s warmth to penetrate your living areas. This can reduce the need for space heaters or your central heating system, cutting down your energy consumption. - Maximize Daylight During the Winter
In the winter months, daylight hours are shorter, which means you’re more likely to use artificial lighting during the day. Skylights can help you make the most of the limited daylight by providing a consistent and bright source of light. This reduces the need for overhead lights – which can be a significant energy drain.
As an additional benefit, the quality of natural light is superior to artificial lighting. As such, it can create a more comfortable environment in your home and reduce the symptoms of illnesses like seasonal affective disorder (SAD). - Enhance Insulation with Energy-Efficient Skylights
Modern skylights are designed to be highly energy-efficient, with insulated glass and special coatings that reduce heat transfer. This means they can keep your home warmer in winter.
The right skylights act as an additional layer of insulation, preventing heat loss through the roof. This can help maintain a stable indoor temperature and reduce the energy needed to heat your home – lowering your energy bills in the process.
Factors That Impact the Amount of Money Skylights Can Help You Save
As you can see, skylights can provide you with significant savings on your energy bills – but the exact amount of money you can save will depend on several factors, including:
- Home Insulation Quality: If your home is poorly insulated, skylights will have a reduced impact on energy savings because more heat will be lost or gained through the walls and roof. The better your insulation, the more effective skylights will be in enhancing energy efficiency.
- Number and Placement of Skylights: The more skylights you install and the more strategically they’re placed, the greater the potential savings. Skylights placed on the south-facing side of the roof capture the most sunlight – helping to naturally heat your home.
- Roof Orientation and Pitch: The direction and slope of your roof affect how much light enters through the skylights. Roofs that are tilted to capture more sunlight will yield better results in terms of heating and natural light.
- Room Size and Ceiling Height: Larger rooms or spaces with high ceilings may benefit more from skylights since they allow natural light to penetrate deeper into the room and provide more ventilation. Smaller rooms or low-ceiling areas usually don’t experience as significant a reduction in energy costs.
Of course, as important as these factors may be, the quality of your skylights will always be the primary element that determines how much money they will help you save on light and heat.
Solatube’s HSE Performance Series skylights include a variety of features that are designed to help you maximize your energy savings, such as:
- Dual-Pane Low-E Glass: Blocks harmful UV rays and reduces heat transfer to maintain better indoor temperatures.
- Argon Gas Insulation: Argon gas in the skylight’s insulated cavity improves thermal efficiency, helping to keep the indoors warm no matter how chilly it gets outside.
- Integrated Thermal Barriers: Minimizes heat and cold transfer between the skylight frame and indoors – keeping your energy bills low in the process.
Are you ready to begin saving money with an HSE Performance Series skylight? If so, all you need to do is get in touch with your local Solatube dealer. They will be happy to show you our entire range and provide you with a free estimate.