On Sun, 05 Jul 2015 06:29:44 -0400, Tom Gardner
wrote:

Is anybody familiar with this brand? I would like three; a 14" in the
kitchen and a 10" in each of two bathrooms. Any down side?

I haven't installed any, but I've seen a LOT of them and talked about
them with lots of clients. DEFINITELY get a frosted diffuser, as the
direct sunlight coming down that shiny metal tube is extremely bright.
Most setups come with the diffuser rather than a clear bottom lens.

The polished stainless sheetmetal tubes work much better than either
galvanized tubes or the flexible tube type, which are cheaper.

What I don't like about skylights and solatubes is that the entire
room will be very, very bright until a cloud comes along, and it will
go nearly dark. This is 5x more pronounced than you experience with
plain windows. Days with scattered clouds are like living in the
shadow of a wind turbine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbIe0iUtelQ
I've seen better luck when they are installed on the north side of
roofs. They produce less light, but are far less stroby.

Bottom line: skylights are nice, but I wouldn't want to live with
one. We get lots of scattered cloudy days here.

--
Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult,
whereas I am merely in disguise.
-- Margaret Atwood