Don Vandervort, Head Homeboy, has written more than 30 DIY home improvement books, been a segment host on HGTV, served as MSN.com's home improvement expert and written countless magazine articles.
Skylights provide up to 30% more natural light than vertical windows, making a small space seem larger. In a bathroom with limited wall space, a skylight may be your only means of bringing in significant daylight. One with clear glass focuses bright light on a small spot; a skylight with obscure glass or acrylic supplies more-ambient illumination.
Like windows, skylights are either stationary or operable. Fixed skylights, which provide illumination only, may be flat or dome-shaped. Ventilating models can be opened and closed by means of a hand crank, wall switch, remote control, or high-tech automatic temperature sensor. When open, a ventilating skylight can create an updraft to draw hot, steamy air out of a bathroom. An open skylight can vent hot air and is compatible with air conditioning since cold air stays near the ground.
Old-fashioned skylights were simply a single thickness of glass in a frame, but today they come with low-e and tinted coatings to control heat transmission and UV radiation. Skylights are rated for their thermal efficiency in the same way windows are, so you can compare R-values and U-values. As an alternative to tinted glass, which darkens a room, you can get shades or blinds for your skylight. Ventilating skylights can also be equipped with screens to keep bugs out.
When a full-size skylight is too big for a bathroom, you can get almost as much light from a tubular skylight. Just 10 to 18 inches in diameter, tubular skylights consist of a clear dome over a reflective shaft that ends at the ceiling with a sealed diffuser. The system provides an enormous amount of light for its small size, and it’s sealed to minimize heat gain and loss.
