Our landing is vary dark and even during the summer we have to have a
lightbulb burning all the time. No windows or natural light up on the
landing save from a smidgin entering through the front door and up the
stairs.

At the weekend we spotted a leaflet for this

http://www.velux.co.uk/Products/SUN+TUNNELS/Product/

Velux Sun Tunnels

I think we'd only need one, how DIYable are these things?

Presuming fitting would need external roof access so a tower at the
least. I'm also confused about the difference in the flexible one and
the rigid one (well, not confused about the difference - that's obvious,
but confused about which would be used in a given application).

Anyone fitted one of these, how did they perform?

Thanks!

"Frog" wrote in message
...
Our landing is vary dark and even during the summer we have to have a
lightbulb burning all the time. No windows or natural light up on the
landing save from a smidgin entering through the front door and up the
stairs.

At the weekend we spotted a leaflet for this

http://www.velux.co.uk/Products/SUN+TUNNELS/Product/

Velux Sun Tunnels

I think we'd only need one, how DIYable are these things?

Presuming fitting would need external roof access so a tower at the least.
I'm also confused about the difference in the flexible one and the rigid
one (well, not confused about the difference - that's obvious, but
confused about which would be used in a given application).

Anyone fitted one of these, how did they perform?

Thanks!


Also see this - has a dome to collect more light.

http://www.lightpipe.org.uk/

John wrote:

Also see this - has a dome to collect more light.

http://www.lightpipe.org.uk/



Interesting but what an awful website. None of their FAQs work. Hard to
find out much about the product!

On Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:06:44 +0100, Frog wrote:

Our landing is vary dark and even during the summer we have to have a
lightbulb burning all the time. No windows or natural light up on the
landing save from a smidgin entering through the front door and up the
stairs.

At the weekend we spotted a leaflet for this

http://www.velux.co.uk/Products/SUN+TUNNELS/Product/

Velux Sun Tunnels

I think we'd only need one, how DIYable are these things?

Presuming fitting would need external roof access so a tower at the
least. I'm also confused about the difference in the flexible one and
the rigid one (well, not confused about the difference - that's obvious,
but confused about which would be used in a given application).

Anyone fitted one of these, how did they perform?

Thanks!


I haven't used one myself, but my sister has one installed in her
house in Sydney, where they are called 'solar lights'. It was fitted
during the construction. They are quite common in Australia,
especially in their bungalows with corridors with no windows for
natural light. They often have a domed clear plastic top, unlike the
flat one used by Velux. They work very well and just need dead flies
to be removed occasionally.

I also watched one being fitted into a neighbour's house here in the
UK last year, while a 2 storey extension was being added and the
scaffolding was already there in place.

A number of roof tiles were lifted to establish a suitable horizontal
location for the light between the rafters. The vertical location must
have been determined by the position of the existing tiles. Battens
were cut out as required, and the unit was installed with its
weatherproof 'flange' arranged under the adjacent tiles.

The flexible aluminium tunnel is most useful where the ends of the
system are not conveniently sited - which is probably most cases.

I could see that it was just possibly a DIY job, but I'm not sure if
it would be cost effective if you had to pay someone to do the work
though....

DJ

On 29 June, 11:06, Frog wrote:
Our landing is vary dark and even during the summer we have to have a
lightbulb burning all the time. No windows or natural light up on the
landing save from a smidgin entering through the front door and up the
stairs.

At the weekend we spotted a leaflet for this

http://www.velux.co.uk/Products/SUN+TUNNELS/Product/

Velux Sun Tunnels

I think we'd only need one, how DIYable are these things?

Presuming fitting would need external roof access so a tower at the
least. I'm also confused about the difference in the flexible one and
the rigid one (well, not confused about the difference - that's obvious,
but confused about which would be used in a given application).

Anyone fitted one of these, how did they perform?

Thanks!

Should perform well if you can get the collector end in a nice
unshaded spot.

Tubular skylight is one generic name for them , quite a number of
differnt manufacturers around, heres another

http://www.solalighting.co.uk

Adam

On 29 June, 11:06, Frog wrote:
Our landing is vary dark and even during the summer we have to have a
lightbulb burning all the time. No windows or natural light up on the
landing save from a smidgin entering through the front door and up the
stairs.

At the weekend we spotted a leaflet for this

http://www.velux.co.uk/Products/SUN+TUNNELS/Product/

Velux Sun Tunnels

I think we'd only need one, how DIYable are these things?

Presuming fitting would need external roof access so a tower at the
least. I'm also confused about the difference in the flexible one and
the rigid one (well, not confused about the difference - that's obvious,
but confused about which would be used in a given application).

Anyone fitted one of these, how did they perform?

Thanks!

We have 2 of these, both fitted professionally whilst our extension
was being built. Both have the flexible tunnel, stretched to the 2m
limit. If you need longer than this then you need to use the rigid
tunnel. The roof work required was fairly major, I'd think that you
need to be pretty experienced at roofing work to achieve a
satisfactory leak-free result, the fixture is exactly like a roof
window, except it doesn't open.
The effect is amazing, the bathroom which would otherwise be
windowless is usable for most of the day without additional lighting.
The one on the landing has a less dramatic effect as we tend to leave
the bedroom doors open anyway, but I still wouldn't want to be without
it.
If you're anywhere near Woking you can come and take a look.

On 29 Jun 2009 13:14:37 GMT, Huge wrote:

On 2009-06-29, David J wrote:

I haven't used one myself, but my sister has one installed in her
house in Sydney, where they are called 'solar lights'. It was fitted
during the construction. They are quite common in Australia,
especially in their bungalows with corridors with no windows for
natural light. They often have a domed clear plastic top, unlike the
flat one used by Velux. They work very well and just need dead flies
to be removed occasionally.

What purpose do the dead flies serve? And is it possible to have them
without?

(Sorry)

LOL!

If you've ever been to Australia you'll know that the bl**dy flies get
everywhere....

DJ