I’ve installed a skylight over my basement stairs to help get light into a room that has no windows. I’ve yet to cut thru the drywall (I need to cut thru the ceiling and build the shaft. I was on a roof today and looked down thru a skylight and saw the inside of the attic with an opaque glass panel at the ceiling. This would work great for me (I need light, not see the sky) and would be less work. My thinking is to cut the drywall, build a shaft of polyiso and install the glass in lieu of the drywall (picture frame trim). Anybody see a problem with this – condensation, etc?
Birth, school, work, death…………………
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A client asked for "opaque" skylights once, too. Opaque glass kinda defeats its own purpose, no?
Sorry, Grant, that one always hits my funny bone.
Sun Tunnel has translucent diffusers, so I know it's been done. I like seeing good ol' Carolina Blue sky every chance I get, but if that didn't matter, a translucent lens should work. I'd worry though that it might look too much like the covering of a kitchen fluorescent fixture. And you would be losing some lumens.
Opaque glass kinda defeats its own purpose, no?
Yeah, I get you and agree. But in this case, you can't really see out of the light, except standing in a place you'd never really stand. I'd use white polyiso to line the shaft. Getting me out of a lot of difficult framing and drywalling (as in hard to access) is what's driving this. I've also got about R60 in my attic and I'm thinking building a shaft directly to the skylight is a chink in my armor.
Let's leave the opaque out of the question. Anybody see any problem with glazing at the ceiling below a skylight shaft?Birth, school, work, death.....................
http://grantlogan.net/
You might try to get Andy E's attention for this. He's an insulation and building science wiz.
If can maintain the temp in the shaft way the same as the inside of your home I don't see a problem.
But I'm thinking it might get a bit cooler in the shaft because it is closed off and sealed from the enviroment of the house thus making one side of the lens cooler than the other.
Flat ceiling pitched roof right?
Eric[email protected]
It's Never Too Late To Become What You Might Have Been
> I've also got about R60 in my attic and I'm thinking building a shaft directly to the skylight is a chink in my armor.
Maybe build up a stack of sheets of clear plastic with spacers to make an inch or so of air space between them. Like double or triple glazed windows, only you can go for even more layers to increase the R value. Air is a pretty good insulator if you can keep convection from moving it around. That should also help with the condensation issue.
-- J.S.
Why not use copper to line the shaft ?
On a hill by the harbour
The translucent thing can look a lot like a flourescent. I once went looking for a way to turn one off, but looked up and saw that it was a light tunnel.
A white or reflective shaft interior will get more light down into the stairwell. The higher the ratio between the distance from roof to ceiling and the area of the skylight, the more important this is.
-- J.S.
Just do it!!!!!!!
Firstly a word of caution - don't use glass at the bottom of the well unless it's tempered. Or plexi, or coraplast. I understand that diffused material gives 20% more light than plain (something to do with refraction). the additional layer at the bottom of the well is a great idea - I often recommend it as heat just flows up the well like a chimney. Done that extra panel several times. Bonus - you won't see the cobwebs - she won't, more likely, hah.
Insulate the sides if the well to the best r-value you can get, no matter what. Tie the batts around with string, even, but do it. Then you won't have a problem with condensation.
All the best...
To those who know - this may be obvious. To those who don't - I hope I've helped.