selecting and buying skylights

If you just want day-lighting and an easy installation, then modern tubular skylights are excellent options. If you also want natural ventilation and views, then choose traditional rectangular skylights.

See, for details on these and other related issues:

Traditional rectangular Skylights
Modern Sun Tunnel Tubular Skylights
Skylights and Roof Windows
Venting vs. Fixed skylights
Plastic Skylights vs. Glass skylights
Bubble and Dome Skylights
Deck mounted, Curb mounted and Self-flashed skylights
Rectangular Skylights flashing

Plastic & Glass skylights

Skylight glazing usually consists of either plastic or glass.

The best skylights use glass. More precisely, they use low-e (Low Emittance) double-glass coatings, and also warm-edge spacers and gas (argon...). These features improve their efficiency and reduce heat losses.

Skylight glasses

Low-emittance glass coatings can involve different solar gains. Low-E insulation doesn’t just reduce heat transmission: it also reduces UV transmission.

Laminated tempered glass is also a common solution, involving a combination of two or more glass sheets and one or two layers of plastic. This solution improves the skylight safety in case of breakage.

See, for details: Skylight Glasses

Skylights and climates zones

New technologies allow a large diversity of skylights responding to particular climate zones and needs. Typically, skylights are labeled for three climate zones: the colder, the temperate and… the warmer.

The correspondent types of skylights differ basically in the U-factor* and Solar Heat Gain Coefficient** of their glazing.

* The U-factor measures heat losses through the skylight
** The SHGC coefficient measures the solar heat gains (often unwanted heat gains in hot climates and hot weather).

See, for more information: Climate zones for windows, skylights…

Energy Star and BFRC labeling

The NFRC/Energy Star or the BRFC (British Rating Fenestration Council, a voluntary scheme used by the glazing industry in Great Britain) rating are an easy way to evaluate the energy efficiency of a skylight.

Qualified skylights are a guarantee of energy performance for the different climate zones.

Note: The BFRC Window Energy Rating contains bands from A to G, like the UE eco-label (presently not applied to skylights or windows).

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