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Sunpipes

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sally_in_wales
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Wed Dec 20, 06 11:20 am Post subject: Sunpipes

Anyone ever installed one of these? I like the idea of them for lighting things like stairwells where often the light gets left on because people are traispsing round all day, but they are pretty expensive. They also do ones with solar powered fans and little lights which look very nifty for things like bathrooms, but I didnt dare look at how much they were!

Would be interesting to hear how well they work in practice

Leonie

Joined: 13 Sep 2005
Posts: 731
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Wed Dec 20, 06 11:36 am Post subject:
we saw them in Australia, hubby looked into becoming an installer and our neighbour has one to light her stairway. They work very well and it's something we plan on fitting in the new year when we redecorate the house.

sally_in_wales
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Wed Dec 20, 06 11:44 am Post subject:
I can certainly imagine fitting them into new builds, wonder how well they work on rainy Welsh terraced houseing?

Gervase

Joined: 17 Nov 2004
Posts: 8655

Posted: Wed Dec 20, 06 12:07 pm Post subject:
They are expensive, but no tricker to fit than a Velux window - just make sure you get the right flashing kit when you get the sunpipe (you need to specify whether you've got a slate, tiled or zinc/flat roof). The effects can be quite impressive - they do seem to concentrate the light. Naturally they're at their best when installed on the sunny side of the roof!

Brandon

Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 114
Location: mid wales

Posted: Tue Dec 26, 06 9:50 am Post subject:

just finished a house in which we put 3 sunpipes.

They are excellent at lighting areas such as landings.

A few toughts though...

to ease installation into an existing roof get one of the smaller sizes, so that the pipe willl fit through between your existing rafters. it is indeed possible to trim your rafters in order to fit a larger pipe (as one would do when fitting a velux) but for easy installation a small one is the answer.

presuming that your house is well insulated, the sunpipe will very much be the weak link, as the top consists of a single polycarbonate dome, and the bottom is the same, only diffusing rather than clear. it is pretty much like putting a single glazed window in your ceiling, as the air is subject to convection within the pipe, and as such acts as a chimeny.

The velux pipes are flat to the roof, and as such are less obtrusive, and they have a double glazed window on the exterior, they are cheaperr than "sunpipe" but harder to fit in some ways, and easier in others.

I am a huge fan of the light that they enable, but as a builder who specialises in highly insulated low energy buildings, I feel that the cold bridge issue needs to be addressed for sunpipes

sally_in_wales
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Tue Dec 26, 06 5:58 pm Post subject:

Brandon wrote:

I am a huge fan of the light that they enable, but as a builder who specialises in highly insulated low energy buildings, I feel that the cold bridge issue needs to be addressed for sunpipes

Thats a really good point, I hadnt thought of that, I can imagine on my roof a lot of heat could get lost that way

bernie-woman

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7824
Location: shropshire

Posted: Wed Dec 27, 06 9:51 am Post subject:

sally_in_wales wrote:

Brandon wrote:

I am a huge fan of the light that they enable, but as a builder who specialises in highly insulated low energy buildings, I feel that the cold bridge issue needs to be addressed for sunpipes

Thats a really good point, I hadnt thought of that, I can imagine on my roof a lot of heat could get lost that way

We had one proposed for our landing for the new extension but the builder put us off for this very reason - I was quite disappointed

aussie

Joined: 05 Jan 2007
Posts: 18
Location: Australia

Posted: Fri Jan 05, 07 7:19 am Post subject:
They are popular here in Australia, as mentioned earlier, and are called Solar Tubes. The one drawback with them in summer is that they generate a large amount of heat inside, like a skylight. And, yes, they are expensive to install.

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