What’s necessary to know before design & installation of a light pipe?
1. Do I want to spend my money on a quality light pipe which delivers plenty of sunlight and shines with endurance? Or do I want any light pipe and to save money?
If the answer is to save, do not buy a light pipe; instead use a lamp or an energy-saving light bulb and you will avoid many problems with water leakage and condensation in the light pipe. You will also avoid the disappointment which would await you from the lack of sunlight when you observe that in winter your light pipe is just tiredly squinting at you. Recommendation: Postpone your purchase of a light pipe and save money for a couple of years for a quality brand with professional installation. Lightway light pipes are installed in hotels and residences without problem and without the installers even making a mess.
2. What do we need to know from a technical standpoint?
Type of roof: Pitched/Slanted, Flat
Type of roof covering: Tile, metal roofing and sheet metal, asphalt shingle, bitumen membrane, PVC foil
Type of room: what do we expect from the delivered sunlight?
Plenty of sunlight for:
- any kind of work, reading, cooking, ironing, studying, good make-up in the bathroom?
- plenty of sunlight in winter?
- just for safe movement on the stairs, in the hall?
- do we want a lot of sunlight; we just really like a lot of light and sun?
- so that it improves the atmosphere in a dim room
- do we want to grow flowers because they wouldn’t survive in a dim space?
Distance from the roof to the room: the length of the light pipe determines its needed diameter and also significantly affects the price.
Where is the heat insulation: on the ceiling? Is the roof isolated? This is important for how to insulate the light pipe, where to place Blue Performance components and connect the vapor shield. By this we ensure that the light pipe won’t leak water in winter nor lose valuable heat.
