Solar pipe? for illuminating internal room
 

Hi all
Somewhere recently I saw an ad for a method of providing natural light
to an otherwise dark internal room - the concept was a light collector
of some sort mounted on the roof, with a duct or pipe to convey light
down into the body of the house, to a light panel or something in the
ceiling.

Sounded quite a good idea; I wondered if (a) anybody could point me at
a suitable website/supplier and (b) whether anyone has seen one of
these and can reccomend it? Or is it a gimmick which will cause your
roof to leak, and stop working when the (inaccessible) light collector
gets grubby?!

David

Solar pipe? for illuminating internal room
 

"David" wrote in message
om...
Hi all
Somewhere recently I saw an ad for a method of providing natural light
to an otherwise dark internal room - the concept was a light collector
of some sort mounted on the roof, with a duct or pipe to convey light
down into the body of the house, to a light panel or something in the
ceiling.

Sounded quite a good idea; I wondered if (a) anybody could point me at
a suitable website/supplier and (b) whether anyone has seen one of
these and can reccomend it? Or is it a gimmick which will cause your
roof to leak, and stop working when the (inaccessible) light collector
gets grubby?!

Ive seen one in use (in a internal bathroom)

Gives a suprising amount of light - for where you wouldnt be able to get a
window

Solar pipe? for illuminating internal room
 

On 7 Sep 2003 06:46:15 -0700, a particular chimpanzee named
(David) randomly hit the keyboard and
produced:

Somewhere recently I saw an ad for a method of providing natural light
to an otherwise dark internal room - the concept was a light collector
of some sort mounted on the roof, with a duct or pipe to convey light
down into the body of the house, to a light panel or something in the
ceiling.

I've seen it used a couple of times. It gives about the light of a
low wattage bulb, which is probably plenty in a WC or corridor. No
idea about durability. As for weather-tightness; I would have thought
no worse than a rooflight. Try www.monodraught.co.uk.
--
Hugo Nebula
"You know, I'd rather see this on TV,
Tones it down" - Laurie Anderson

Solar pipe? for illuminating internal room
 

Somewhere recently I saw an ad for a method of providing natural light
to an otherwise dark internal room - the concept was a light collector
of some sort mounted on the roof, with a duct or pipe to convey light
down into the body of the house, to a light panel or something in the
ceiling.

Sounded quite a good idea; I wondered if (a) anybody could point me at
a suitable website/supplier and

http://www.solatube.co.uk/ is the supplier whose tubes I have seen
installed.

(b) whether anyone has seen one of
these and can reccomend it?

Yes. They provide adequate light for most things, and if mounted on the
south-facing part of the roof they are a lot more efficient. Even on a
cloudy day in February they gave enough light for my nearly-blind
grandfather to move around quite well.

Or is it a gimmick which will cause your
roof to leak, and stop working when the (inaccessible) light collector
gets grubby?!

As mentioned by others, the rain cleans them. Just be sure the installation
is water-tight.

Solar pipe? for illuminating internal room
 

Hi all
Somewhere recently I saw an ad for a method of providing natural light
to an otherwise dark internal room - the concept was a light collector
of some sort mounted on the roof, with a duct or pipe to convey light
down into the body of the house, to a light panel or something in the
ceiling.


Just finished mine yesterday! (the same day that Dave wrote his
message!)

I saw the idea on http://www.skytube.net.nz/, used a 250mm PVC soil
pipe, put the old washing machine's door glass on the top, fitted
perfectly!

Lined the inside of the tube with silver foil (don't know how long it
will last, but not difficult to remove and re-line because I cut off
the wide end of the soil pipe and set that into the ceiling - the
other part plugs in nicely!

Will have photos available when the film is out of the camera...

We use it to light up the stair well, so effective that we keep trying
to turn off the light durung the day!