Better than LEDs
 

If you live in an area that has a lot of sunshine, you might want to consider a solar tube for lighting your sewing room. I had one installed about a month ago, and the only time I turn on the lamp is at night or on a rainy, cloudy, dark day. There is so much bright light in that room, you want to turn off the light when leaving, but there is no light on. It's all coming from the sun. Amazing!! It takes less than two hours to install, it's about ten inches in diameter, and is flush on the ceiling. Just thought you might be interested in knowing this is out there.

Does it cause the room to heat up? I've been intrigued by them

Wish I could. I can't even have a ceiling light or fan. As stupid as it sounds, we have electric radiant heat in the ceiling, in a rancher. Not like it's even a 2 story house. Guess it was something they thought was a good idea in the 50's.lol Would love to have something like that.

Intriguing concept - never heard if these - will have to investigate - thanks for the heads up.

We call them 'skylights' here. We have a round tube one in the dining room, a square one in the hallway leading to some bedrooms and one big square one in the end bathroom (it has no exterior windows). They are fantastic, we have never had one leak and they don't seem to contribute to overheating in the summer (it is not a glaring light as the top bit on the roof is generally opaque. Our tube one could do with replacing (it is over 35 years old), but the others are fine.

When I first moved in to this house (they were installed by former owners), for ages I would try and 'turn the light off' in the dining room....the kids thought it was hysterical.

Interesting. So many new inventions from solar.

I liked them for the light but be sure your contractor knows exactly what he is doing and ask for other homes he has installed them in and call and ask about leaking or roof damage.

We call most of them skylights here, too. "Solatube" is a brand name for the round tubular kind of skylight. As near as I can figure, skylights are square or rectangular, and solar tubes are round. :p

I have radiant ceiling heat in my house too, and I love it. However, we were able to install a 14" Solatube in the main bathroom several years ago. It does not transfer heat or cold at all. Originally, the bathroom's only source of heat was an infrared lamp; there are no wires running through the ceiling, so installation was no problem. I LOVE that Solatube. Not only does it light up the bathroom, it lights the hallway too. The laundry room is at the end of the hallway, and it has a window. So I replaced the hollow-core laundry room door with an interior glass-paned window, and put sheer lace curtains on it to block the view of the laundry but let light in.

Between that Solatube and the glass-paned door, what was once a long, dark hallway is now light and bright. :)

p.s. Sandy (the OP) said "If you live in an area with lots of sunshine". You do not need lots of sunshine for a solar tube to work well. I live in the Portland metro area, very gray and rainy, and the Solatube works well.

We installed a Solatube in our upstairs kids bathroom about 15 years ago. Love, love love that thing. I can't tell you how many guests have asked us how to "turn off that light" It brightens up that bath wonderfully and does not heat up the room. It has never leaked water either. I would highly recommend one if you need some light and do not have another floor above it.

If you get a solar tube for sewing room, make sure to get UV coating added to it & any windows in the room to protect fabric.

Went into a Mennonite-owned quilt store in/near Harrisonburg, VA, last year where they were using these and I was astounded how brilliant --- as in light intensity and in intelligence!!--- they were! I went home with a brochure about them, which I have now misplaced darn it. :rolleyes:

IF I were to ever build a place I'd use these things for sure. The store automatically switched to electric lighting when there was not enough sunlight. COOL!

Jan in VA

I agree with everyone how good the skylight or solar tubes are. We installed one a couple of years ago and we got the one that has a switch so you can turn off the sunlight or turn it on. It was a bit pricey but glad we got the one with the switch as we do turn it off occasionally, mainly in summer.

I built a house last year and since, had decided to install a solartube in the hallway from the garage. Builder here two weeks ago and Told me it wasn't worth the expense because going straight up would put it in the valley on the roof and would not provide me light!!! I just think he did not want he job!!!

I agree with you. Mine is on the north side of our roof and doesn't get much direct sunlight at all in the winter, but we still get plenty of bright light during the day.

I would contact SolaTube directly, they will be able to tell you if your contractor is full of hot air or if his concern is valid. We had a SolaTube rep professionally install ours and haven't had a single issue in 9 years.

LOL One of the purposes of a solatube is to be able to place the outside "window" in a location that is not necessarily directly above the inside placement of the skylight. The tube can snake around in the attic and the ceiling part can be placed in just the right spot. I think you're right...he didn't want the job.

The tubes are wonderful and provide so much light!

LOL, I was going to google what a solar tube was!! Some new fangled do-dad!! LOL A sky light I understand. Am I getting old????

I've had a number of solar tubes in my homes. I never had any problems in AZ with them heating up my home, but when it's over 100 outside you've still got the AC on. When we had a new roof put on in OR, my DH thought he would have a solar tube put into the hall bathroom. I don't know if it's the paint or the way they placed the tube or even if it's because it's in a smaller area, but it does heat up that bathroom. I find that in the summer (this summer for sure), that I keep the doors closed on the hall bathroom (1 door into the hallway and 1 door into the laundry room). So to answer your question in most cases it doesn't, but it can sometimes.

Yes & no. It is a circle shaped skylight, but typically skylights are installed in a narrow space between the ceiling & roof or sometimes with a straight "chase" running in a straight line from roof to top floor ceiling. Solar tubes can be installed up on the roof (circle shaped prismatic "skylight") and then a reflective tube is run down through the attic to the ceiling of virtually any room in the house.

Skylights serve as a beautiful decorative feature to a home, but solar tubes typically provide about the same amount of light & offer much more flexibility in placement. I have seen them run down to a kitchen on the 1st floor of a 2-story house and it's bright enough to do intricate knife work. A skylight could not be installed in that location (with a finished floor above the space).

I have a solar tube in one of my bathrooms. When it was first installed I kept trying to shutoff the light also!!! They do give alot of light! No heat that I have ever noticed but I do live in Oregon!

Great idea. I'm always looking for ways to brighten up my sewing studio.

These sound so intriguing! I am definitely going to check into them. The den in my house was originally paneled in dark wood and has very little natural light. My husband and I painted the paneling white and that helped a lot but I still have to turn on lights in the daytime. Think "white cave"!

Solar tubes sound like a really good solution to my problem.

I need one or three of these.

I can't have one in my sewing and quilting rooms as they are in the basement, but I've been wishing for them in the hall, in the kitchen and the bathroom off of the hall for years. Some of them are called Sun Tunnels, and some of them are called Solar Tubes, anyhow they are both wonderful. Maybe some day I'll actually get some.

My sister had one in her old house but she lives in Vegas where it almost never rains. My husband would never consider it because of the risk of leaks. Our old house had a lot of roof leak problems and dh was working on it almost constantly so there's no way he would take the risk for a light tube or skylight.

I too have a solar tube and I'm very pleased with it. This is the second home we have installed them in and loved them. A already stated there is no heat loss or gain. They can also be installed In 2 story homes they extend the tube to the lower floor through an enclosed area. worked for me. You can also have a bulb installed with a switch to use at night, have not tried that the salesman explained it to me. would love one in all my rooms.

My husband does handyman work. One day a frantic lady called him up wanting some help. When he got there the husband was sort of hiding and peeking around a corner. Seems he tried to repair a leaky sun window with duck tape, then it rained....

I have a solar tube in my kitchen as well as in my sewing room. I absolutely love them Half the time I don't even need to turn on my electric lighting at all. The natural light that is amplified is perfect to see the colors that I am picking out for my projects. I haven't noticed any heating in my room at all. My galley kitchen seemed like a black hole until I got the tube light in it. Both tubes were installed by my DH and went pretty quickly. I would recommend them to anyone wanting or needing more natural lighting.

Have never heard of this - solar tube - hhmm....unfortunately we are in a huge modular home - don't think this would work for us, but awesome idea!

Here in Maine I fear they would be covered for month's at a time by snow but I sure would like to have one for the dark parts of the house.

My brother & SIL has one in their kitchen, and one in the upstairs bathroom.

Every time I use the restroom I try to turn on the lights.

Wish I could install them in my place, but sadly I live in a rented condo.

My place came with them already installed. I got used to my old mother telling me to turn off the light all of the time. They don"t heat up the room like a conservatory does and they are quite tolerable and very common in our country, as hot as it is.

We purchase the Solatube and had it installed by the manufacturer, love it. We had a 14" one put in my sewing room with the prisim lense, it adds even more light. They were afraid it would be too much light but is perfect for my sewing room. At first we were constantly trying to turn the lights off, because it is so bright in there. We also had a smaller 10" with regular lense put in our master sitting area and our bathroom that did not have a window, I would totally recommend them. Not a huge difference with the heat but some with the prism lense.

Before and After of Solatube
 

This is a before and after one of the sewing room and one in our master bedroom sitting area.

Had them for twenty years in our living room love them

My first house had this kind of heat.... I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!! Even living in Ohio.........The best part was not having to dust so much.....More time for sewing...lol

Also arranging furniture is easier. No ducts to arrange around.

Just wondering how the solartubes do at night. Do you not need a nightlight in the bathroom at night then? I think this might be a good idea for your bathroom. The only room in the house without ceiling heat.

You can definitely see a little light but not really enough for a nightlight.

If there's a bright full moon, there is enough light for a night light. If there's a little sliver of a moon, there is not enough light for the night light.