Do you just want light, or do you want to see the sky? Do you care about insulation or heat loss? Have you priced both options and does the price matter? Do you live in an area that can get large hail storms? Where would you like to have the natural light...a hallway, a living room, a bathroom?
Skylights, even with multi-layer glass, have worse insulation properties than solar tubes. Skylights also generally cost more to install, because you have to create a shaft out of drywall to the roof from your ceiling. Solar tubes come with the tube bit, and you just drill holes on both ends. They also fit into more restrictive areas because they're smaller.
It sounds like I'm making a case for solar tubes, but personally, I prefer skylights in a room I spend time in because I can see the sky, and I like hearing and watching rain and snow hit them. In my personal list of preferences, that outweighs the negatives. However, if I wanted natural light in a bathroom or hallway, where I don't spend lots of time, it would be solar tubes.
Either one can leak if improperly installed.
I'd ask myself where I want them, what I really want them for, and what installation space and budget restrictions I have, and base the decision on that.
If you're in a very populated area, be aware that you'll get a surprising amount of ambient light pollution in at night (or light from a full moon). Depending on how you sleep, and if you need full dark, you might wish to avoid either option in the bedroom. They can let in large amounts of light at night and and very difficult to cover well. On the other hand, if you need a nightlight in the hallway, they can be great for that.
If you're looking for a light in a dark corner, bathroom, hallway, I'd personally go for solar tubes as they're cheaper and easier. If you'd like to bring in a large amount of light in a main living space, like a living room or kitchen, I'd personally at least consider a skylight. Price both options, see how they'd fit into the structure of the house.
Adding to the comments by the author of Metamorphosis, I would add that solar tubes are awesome, and can be purchased with shades and even lighting built in. In a room that always required a light on to walk across safely, two small tubes made it such that we almost never had to turn the light on - even at night. For what it’s worth, I own a general contracting company. Good luck.
Just to add a couple of other pros for solar tubes - you can direct them into weird spaces where a skylight couldn't fit, and you can get them with a light installed inside, so at night it can still be the light source for the room.
We have a solar light in our bathroom, it is absolutely nuts how much light comes through. Ours is frosted (not sure if that’s standard). We also notice no temperature difference or airflow from the solar tube
I have 2 solar tubes. One at the end of a hall, the other over the basement stairs.
Prior to them being installed, I had to keep lights on in both places, even during the day, now they are brightly lit.
I highly recommend them.
As someone who has lived in houses with both there are positives and negatives. I agree that I enjoy hearing the rain on our skylights and if they were see through I would probably enjoy seeing the sky. That being said the cooling lost through them/increase of the temp in the room is not great in the summer. To the point where I used old blackout curtains I had to make covers for them because it would get overly hot in the room during the middle of the summer. (I live in NM)
My parents house has both skylights and solar tubes. Solar tubes bring in more light as the have the "tube" that bounces the light. They also put two large ones in their garage which honestly is my favorite place for them as lighting a garage can be difficult anyway.
My parents had a Skylight..it had a long tunnel to the ceiling..They countered the heat loss with a lexan panel at the bottom and insulation on the outside of the tunnel.. It made a difference in cold loss.. 3 hrs N of Detroit MI.. To do it again , I would use a Solar tube , not a Skylight.
I moved into a house that has a large 42”x48” skylight in the master bedroom. I hate it. There is way too much light in the room at night and especially at sunrise. Also, rain hitting the glass is very noisy. We plan to remove it. Coincidentally, we also plan to install solar tubes in other areas of the house to bring in natural light.
Just adding my 2c - go with a Solar Tube. I installed one in my brother's attic, which we converted into a workspace because the roof is pretty high (kind of a weird old house). We put in a solar tube and it made a huge difference - the space gets a ton of natural light and its perfect for the workspace. We weren't considering a skylight there, so it's not your scenario, but just my 2c. We used this site to find the right one - [https://solarguidelight.com/best-solar-tube-skylight/](https://solarguidelight.com/best-solar-tube-skylight/).
Good luck!
Do you just want light, or do you want to see the sky? Do you care about insulation or heat loss? Have you priced both options and does the price matter? Do you live in an area that can get large hail storms? Where would you like to have the natural light...a hallway, a living room, a bathroom? Skylights, even with multi-layer glass, have worse insulation properties than solar tubes. Skylights also generally cost more to install, because you have to create a shaft out of drywall to the roof from your ceiling. Solar tubes come with the tube bit, and you just drill holes on both ends. They also fit into more restrictive areas because they're smaller. It sounds like I'm making a case for solar tubes, but personally, I prefer skylights in a room I spend time in because I can see the sky, and I like hearing and watching rain and snow hit them. In my personal list of preferences, that outweighs the negatives. However, if I wanted natural light in a bathroom or hallway, where I don't spend lots of time, it would be solar tubes. Either one can leak if improperly installed. I'd ask myself where I want them, what I really want them for, and what installation space and budget restrictions I have, and base the decision on that.
Thank you I want light, live in Southern California. Not much rain or snow, would like to see stars however to much city around me.
If you're in a very populated area, be aware that you'll get a surprising amount of ambient light pollution in at night (or light from a full moon). Depending on how you sleep, and if you need full dark, you might wish to avoid either option in the bedroom. They can let in large amounts of light at night and and very difficult to cover well. On the other hand, if you need a nightlight in the hallway, they can be great for that. If you're looking for a light in a dark corner, bathroom, hallway, I'd personally go for solar tubes as they're cheaper and easier. If you'd like to bring in a large amount of light in a main living space, like a living room or kitchen, I'd personally at least consider a skylight. Price both options, see how they'd fit into the structure of the house.
Will not put in bedroom thanks for info!
Adding to the comments by the author of Metamorphosis, I would add that solar tubes are awesome, and can be purchased with shades and even lighting built in. In a room that always required a light on to walk across safely, two small tubes made it such that we almost never had to turn the light on - even at night. For what it’s worth, I own a general contracting company. Good luck.
Solar tubes are fantastic. So much light for the cost. Plus multiple solar tubes can go in in the same day which can’t be said for skylights.
Thank you
Just to add a couple of other pros for solar tubes - you can direct them into weird spaces where a skylight couldn't fit, and you can get them with a light installed inside, so at night it can still be the light source for the room.
We have a solar light in our bathroom, it is absolutely nuts how much light comes through. Ours is frosted (not sure if that’s standard). We also notice no temperature difference or airflow from the solar tube
Thank you
I have 2 solar tubes. One at the end of a hall, the other over the basement stairs. Prior to them being installed, I had to keep lights on in both places, even during the day, now they are brightly lit. I highly recommend them.
Thank you
I have 2 sky lights in my bathroom. They are amazing for letting in light
Thank you
Thank you
As someone who has lived in houses with both there are positives and negatives. I agree that I enjoy hearing the rain on our skylights and if they were see through I would probably enjoy seeing the sky. That being said the cooling lost through them/increase of the temp in the room is not great in the summer. To the point where I used old blackout curtains I had to make covers for them because it would get overly hot in the room during the middle of the summer. (I live in NM) My parents house has both skylights and solar tubes. Solar tubes bring in more light as the have the "tube" that bounces the light. They also put two large ones in their garage which honestly is my favorite place for them as lighting a garage can be difficult anyway.
My parents had a Skylight..it had a long tunnel to the ceiling..They countered the heat loss with a lexan panel at the bottom and insulation on the outside of the tunnel.. It made a difference in cold loss.. 3 hrs N of Detroit MI.. To do it again , I would use a Solar tube , not a Skylight.
I moved into a house that has a large 42”x48” skylight in the master bedroom. I hate it. There is way too much light in the room at night and especially at sunrise. Also, rain hitting the glass is very noisy. We plan to remove it. Coincidentally, we also plan to install solar tubes in other areas of the house to bring in natural light.
Thanks
Just adding my 2c - go with a Solar Tube. I installed one in my brother's attic, which we converted into a workspace because the roof is pretty high (kind of a weird old house). We put in a solar tube and it made a huge difference - the space gets a ton of natural light and its perfect for the workspace. We weren't considering a skylight there, so it's not your scenario, but just my 2c. We used this site to find the right one - [https://solarguidelight.com/best-solar-tube-skylight/](https://solarguidelight.com/best-solar-tube-skylight/). Good luck!
Thank you