Skylights are a weather-tight window that can be installed in certain parts of the roof, and they add a marvelous touch to just about every home they’re installed in. In fact, we list 4 reasons to install skylights in your home here, but there are quite a few more we didn’t have time to list. What are some of your favorite things about skylights? Have you always wanted to have a skylight installation done, or do you have some older ones you want to update? These windows to the sky can really perk up your home and your life in so many ways:
1. Skylights Invite Natural Lighting
Of course, the most noticeable change you will see in your home after a skylight installation is more natural light. Skylights enable natural, free sunlight to stream into whatever room they’re installed over. Scientists and doctors have established that using more natural light in your home can do all kinds of good for your health:
- Natural light improves your mood and can help reduce the depression symptoms for people who struggle with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). The natural, indirect sunlight coming into these spaces can improve anybody’s mood and reduce the secondary symptoms of fatigue and overeating, which helps you avoid even more health problems.
- Natural daylight can also decrease eye strain and help those with vision difficulties see better, particularly if these are working spaces of any kind, so skylight installation helps with that as well.
- And a little extra sun-sourced vitamin D is always a good thing as well, and the glazing on today’s skylights blocks the more harmful UV rays so you can have the best of both worlds.
2. Skylights Save Energy
If you tap into natural daylight to illuminate the spaces in your home, you don’t have to flip as many electric lights on to see what you’re doing and where you’re going. This is one of the top reasons to install skylights. Since lighting can account for up to a third of your electric bill, (depending on how your home is illuminated) it makes total sense to maximize natural lighting in your home as much as possible. It’s far less expensive.
But the energy savings don’t end there! Installing skylights can also help cut your heating and cooling bills as well. In the summer, strategically placed skylights can enable cooling ventilation to temper the heat, particularly the heat that gets trapped higher up. By venting that out and allowing a breeze or two through, it will keep things cooler so you can run the AC less. In the winter, those precious natural sunbeams can filter in and warm things naturally as well.
3. Skylights Improve Resale Value
Another of the many reasons for installing skylights is how they can improve your home’s resale value. Skylights are one of those unique home improvements that is both an exterior and an interior improvement. Skylights are visible from the curb (exterior curb appeal), and home shoppers love the idea of skylights because it gives them an idea of how those skylights will improve the interior (natural light, energy savings, privacy, being able to see the stars at night, etc.) For the money, installing skylights is a smart investment, whether you’re selling or staying.
4. Skylights are Customizable
In the “olden days” the older model skylights were those domed kind of space-agey things that sometimes got foggy from moisture infiltration and were in a fixed position that couldn’t be opened or closed; if you still have those kind, now is the time to upgrade! Today’s skylights are a much sleeker, more useful and customizable home improvement. They can be opened and closed with remote controls and many have special sensors that close automatically if they notice any precipitation. Their weatherproofing has improved drastically so they are able to seal out moisture very well. Also, there may be times when you don’t want the extra natural light (naptime!) so there are models that come with every type of blind imaginable (from blackouts to Venetian).
So what are your favorite reasons to install skylights? Are you ready to make this home improvement step?