The main bedroom in my flat has west-facing windows. I would very much
like to get more sunshine into the room during the morning and
afternoon. The room is on the south side of the building, but I cannot
put windows in that wall because of built-in wardrobes covering that
wall. Above the wardrobes, there is about 2 foot of visible wall. I
have thought about putting some glass bricks into the wall to allow
some sunshine in, but I can't imagine it being all that effective. I
wondered if anyone had any other suggestions. Are there any kind of
fibre-optic products designed to channel sunlight into a room?

BTW, is building control approval needed to insert glass bricks into a
wall?

Thank you,

Mike W

Mike W W wrote:
The main bedroom in my flat has west-facing windows. I would very much
like to get more sunshine into the room during the morning and
afternoon. The room is on the south side of the building, but I cannot
put windows in that wall because of built-in wardrobes covering that
wall. Above the wardrobes, there is about 2 foot of visible wall. I
have thought about putting some glass bricks into the wall to allow
some sunshine in, but I can't imagine it being all that effective. I
wondered if anyone had any other suggestions. Are there any kind of
fibre-optic products designed to channel sunlight into a room?

BTW, is building control approval needed to insert glass bricks into a
wall?


Unless you actually opwn the bricks that form your flat you'll need
permission from the landlord, possible planning permission and mostly
likely building regs too.

One can buy things like mirror tubes but I don't know how practical
that would be for you.

On Fri, 29 Sep 2006 11:58:27 GMT, Mike W W wrote:


The main bedroom in my flat has west-facing windows. I would very
much like to get more sunshine into the room during the morning
and afternoon. The room is on the south side of the building, but
I cannot put windows in that wall because of built-in wardrobes
covering that wall. Above the wardrobes, there is about 2 foot of
visible wall. I have thought about putting some glass bricks into
the wall to allow some sunshine in, but I can't imagine it being
all that effective. I wondered if anyone had any other
suggestions. Are there any kind of fibre-optic products designed
to channel sunlight into a room?

BTW, is building control approval needed to insert glass bricks
into a wall?

Thank you,

Mike W

There's something you can buy called Sunpipes - they're basically a
flue-like tube with a domed top. They can be installed in flat
roofs, or pitched roofs - but not sure about walls.

Mike W W wrote:

wondered if anyone had any other suggestions. Are there any kind of
fibre-optic products designed to channel sunlight into a room?

http://www.sunpipe.co.uk/sunpipe/domestic/index.php

"Mike W W" wrote in message
...

The main bedroom in my flat has west-facing windows. I would very much
like to get more sunshine into the room during the morning and
afternoon. The room is on the south side of the building, but I cannot
put windows in that wall because of built-in wardrobes covering that
wall. Above the wardrobes, there is about 2 foot of visible wall. I
have thought about putting some glass bricks into the wall to allow
some sunshine in, but I can't imagine it being all that effective. I
wondered if anyone had any other suggestions. Are there any kind of
fibre-optic products designed to channel sunlight into a room?

One of my neighbours has a sunpipe, as suggested by others. It glows
somewhat eerily at night.

--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Mike W W laid this down on his screen :
Are there any kind of
fibre-optic products designed to channel sunlight into a room?

That would be very expensive for enough to make a difference and the
fibre would be very lossy.

--

Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

The message
from Mike W W contains these words:

Are there any kind of
fibre-optic products designed to channel sunlight into a room?

Transparent concrete?

http://optics.org/articles/news/10/3/10/1

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Mike W W laid this down on his screen :
Are there any kind of
fibre-optic products designed to channel sunlight into a room?

That would be very expensive for enough to make a difference and the
fibre would be very lossy.

NO, but polished stainless steel light pipes are used. Far cheaper and
surprisingly effective..must install one here on the central staircase.

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Mike W W laid this down on his screen :

Are there any kind of
fibre-optic products designed to channel sunlight into a room?

That would be very expensive for enough to make a difference and the
fibre would be very lossy.

NO, but polished stainless steel light pipes are used. Far cheaper and
surprisingly effective..must install one here on the central staircase.

If you use something like this, a concentrator on the outside would up
light levels quite a bit.

NT

On Fri, 29 Sep 2006 22:41:05 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

NO, but polished stainless steel light pipes are used. Far cheaper and
surprisingly effective..must install one here on the central staircase.

Thanks to all for the replies. I looked at the sun pipes. Nice
suggestion, but they are expensive, and they don't make a version
designed to go horizontally through a wall. (The room in question is
on the ground floor.)

So perhaps I might insert four 10" x 10" windows, high in the wall,
glazed with some kind of prismatic glass (or perspex) that would
direct sunlight into the room. Can anyone recommend any such glass and
seen it at a reasonable price?

Incidentally, since the sun pipe concept works, does that mean you can
increase the light entering a room by lining window recesses with
mirror tiles or suchlike?

Mike W

On 29 Sep 2006 15:31:49 -0700, wrote:

If you use something like this, a concentrator on the outside would up
light levels quite a bit.

I think think that comes as part of the Sunpipe kit, by the look of
it. Or at least, they certainly supply something to go on the outside
end of the pipe that looks like some kind of light concentrator.

Mike W

Mike W W wrote:
On Fri, 29 Sep 2006 22:41:05 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

NO, but polished stainless steel light pipes are used. Far cheaper and
surprisingly effective..must install one here on the central staircase.

Thanks to all for the replies. I looked at the sun pipes. Nice
suggestion, but they are expensive, and they don't make a version
designed to go horizontally through a wall. (The room in question is
on the ground floor.)


I don't think that matters actually. Not from the light point of view.

So perhaps I might insert four 10" x 10" windows, high in the wall,
glazed with some kind of prismatic glass (or perspex) that would
direct sunlight into the room. Can anyone recommend any such glass and
seen it at a reasonable price?

Incidentally, since the sun pipe concept works, does that mean you can
increase the light entering a room by lining window recesses with
mirror tiles or suchlike?

Oh yes..but not that much.


We've got a bathroom with one wall over the bath covered in mirror.

Very light room.


Mike W

Mike W W wrote:

Are there any kind of
fibre-optic products designed to channel sunlight into a room?

Plenty of sun pipes around, and DIY works quite well too. However
they're large diameter -- it's just not practical to take large areas
of sunlight catcher and focus them down into really small pipes for
distribution. This is one of the holy grails of cheap solar power.

Mike W W wrote:
On Fri, 29 Sep 2006 22:41:05 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

NO, but polished stainless steel light pipes are used. Far cheaper and
surprisingly effective..must install one here on the central staircase.

Thanks to all for the replies. I looked at the sun pipes. Nice
suggestion, but they are expensive, and they don't make a version
designed to go horizontally through a wall. (The room in question is
on the ground floor.)

So perhaps I might insert four 10" x 10" windows, high in the wall,
glazed with some kind of prismatic glass (or perspex) that would
direct sunlight into the room. Can anyone recommend any such glass and
seen it at a reasonable price?

Incidentally, since the sun pipe concept works, does that mean you can
increase the light entering a room by lining window recesses with
mirror tiles or suchlike?

Mike W

To some extent yes, as white paint would reflect some of it back out
instead. But not hugely.

Where you direct it counts, light that hits a white roof has far more
effect than light hitting a floor.

You can double your light input with a near horizontal mirror on the
outside. Very small ones cna look ok, big ones are very effective but
very visible.

The other optoin is a heliostat. This is a tracking dish that
concentrates the sun onto your lil window all day long. The thing can
be removed from the ground or wherever it is, a real plus for renters.
OTOH conc sunlight and a faulty tracker is not a risk free combinatoin.


NT

wrote:
Mike W W wrote:
On Fri, 29 Sep 2006 22:41:05 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

NO, but polished stainless steel light pipes are used. Far cheaper and
surprisingly effective..must install one here on the central staircase.
Thanks to all for the replies. I looked at the sun pipes. Nice
suggestion, but they are expensive, and they don't make a version
designed to go horizontally through a wall. (The room in question is
on the ground floor.)

So perhaps I might insert four 10" x 10" windows, high in the wall,
glazed with some kind of prismatic glass (or perspex) that would
direct sunlight into the room. Can anyone recommend any such glass and
seen it at a reasonable price?

Incidentally, since the sun pipe concept works, does that mean you can
increase the light entering a room by lining window recesses with
mirror tiles or suchlike?

Mike W

To some extent yes, as white paint would reflect some of it back out
instead. But not hugely.

Where you direct it counts, light that hits a white roof has far more
effect than light hitting a floor.

You can double your light input with a near horizontal mirror on the
outside. Very small ones cna look ok, big ones are very effective but
very visible.

The other optoin is a heliostat. This is a tracking dish that
concentrates the sun onto your lil window all day long. The thing can
be removed from the ground or wherever it is, a real plus for renters.
OTOH conc sunlight and a faulty tracker is not a risk free combinatoin.


NT

I wonder how well they would work in a garden, directing light to shady
areas.