This blog was sponsored by VELUX Skylights.
When we moved into our East Sacramento home ten years ago, we were thrilled to see that we had a skylight in our kitchen and tubular skylights in our master bath and hallway. The light we experience in those areas was not only natural but beautifully ambient. Over time and since we live in California where the climate is sunny 90%+ of the time, we wished that our kitchen skylight could open for ventilation. We cook a lot and could only imagine the benefit in cooling our home if we could only open the skylight somehow. In our bathroom and hallway, we noticed the tubular skylight trim had yellowed over time—do we paint it? Change it out? We just weren’t sure. Until we met with Buz Ashbaugh, our Northern California Senior Sales Rep for VELUX.
The kitchen and bathroom before we replaced the skylights:
When we met with Buz, we discovered that VELUX’s new, innovative skylights let in all the sunlight and fresh air you want, without letting in the rain, summer heat and harmful UV rays you don’t.
Plus, their revolutionary No Leak Solar Powered “Fresh Air” skylight is eligible for a 26% federal tax credit, saving eligible homeowners an average of $815 on the product and installation. Buz also shared with us the following VELUX features:
· Powered by the Sun: A small solar panel on the exterior of the skylight captures available daylight to open and close the skylight while charging a small, concealed batter even on cloudy days.
· Integrated Rain Sensor: With VELUX’s integrated rain sensor, the skylight will close automatically at the first sign of inclement weather.
· Control with the Touch of Your Finger: The Solar Powered “Fresh Air” Skylight comes with a pre-programmed remote control, which allows you to open or close your skylights at your convenience or at scheduled times of the day.
· Blinds: Add light control with factory installed blinds, or choose from more than 100 special order blinds. We chose the solar powered white light filtering version.
· Clean, Quiet, Safe Glass: The newest VELUX models feature clean, quiet, safe glass with Neat glass technology. The Neat glass coating keeps skylights virtually spotless and because the glass is dual paned it reduces unwanted outside noise. VELUX skylights come standard with laminated glass as building codes require for out of reach applications.
· 10-Year Warranty on product and installation: With The No Leak Skylight, VELUX promises no leaks as their revolutionary product is installed with three powerful layers of protection including engineered flashing, adhesive underlayment and a pre-attached roof deck seal.
When it came to our master bathroom and hallway, we ultimately decided to update our dated tubular skylights to VELUX Sun Tunnel Skylights, bringing natural light into our home through a specially designed reflective aluminum tunnel passing from roof to ceiling. They are a simple and cost-effective way to add natural light to all spaces, making rooms not only illuminated, but expansive as well.
We have discovered that living with the new VELUX products has contributed to the health of our home. With our new kitchen skylight, we have the VELUX Active automation system that enables us to choose how often our skylight opens to circulate fresh air throughout our home. The system takes readings from our indoor climate sensors to measure temperature, CO2 and humidity levels and compares it to an online weather forecast to determine when to open our skylight if natural ventilation can improve our home’s indoor air quality. Our VELUX skylight blinds are also connected to the VELUX Active system and use smart heat protection to operate our blinds proactively depending on the weather forecast. The fresh air combined with the natural light provides an increased sense of well-being in our home.
If you have an older skylight on your roof, consider replacing it, so you too can enjoy all the benefits I mentioned above. Connect with VELUX by scheduling a virtual consultation right from the comfort of your own home. Their design consultants can answer any number of skylight questions and advise you on placement in your home.
When you’re ready to install, find a VELUX installer in your area with this handy installer locator tool.
