Light Tubes for Interior Lighting
Light Tubes For Interior Lighting
Find out more about light tubes (aka Sun tubes) and their uses
lighting
A
light tube (aka
Sun tube,
Sun pipe, or
tubular skylight) is a tube or pipe used to transport
daylight from the exterior of a building to a room with no windows. This
passive lighting device uses zero electricity and therefore is not responsible for any
carbon emissions in use.
Natural daylight is much easier on the eye than artificial lighting, and it can help reduce the effects of
seasonal affective disorder.
Light Tubes
A
light tube is typically made up of three simple components:
1. A round
dome (aka cupula) which collects as much sunlight as possible from all angles while blocking out 99+% of harmful UV rays. A
Fresnel lens is sometimes used instead, but with the same end result. The collected light is directing it into a...
2. highly reflective
tube. (With short straight tubes, light transmission efficiency can be well over 98%.) The light reflecting down the tube finally emerges at a...
3.
diffuser. The diffuser spreads the light from the tube around the room to be lit preventing
hot spots (a problem of traditional skylights) from occuring.
Typically a
sun tube will lose 5-6% per metre of length the light must travel, and 10-15% for each 45 degree
elbow required to get the light from the roof to room.
DIY Sun Tube
An excellent guide to putting together a DIY
Sun Tube System is available by clicking here. This
Extreme How-To article is based around commercial
Sun-Tek tubular skylight kits. Click here for the official
Sun-Tek Tube fitting instructions.
Light Tubes in the UK
Prices for installation of a single
light tube system in the UK start at around £500, increasing if tube
extensions are required due to the roof being far away from the room to be lit. A combined natural light and
ventilation system for a bathroom would typically cost £1000-£1,500 installed.
Huge savings can be made if you are able to install the system yourself since the component parts are available from as little as £200 for a complete single tube system.
Useful Web Sites
SolarLighting Ltd - sole distributor in UK and Ireland for
Solatube - one of the World's leading solar lighting manufacturers.
Moondraught - provide domestic and commercial
sunpipes, and their
MonoVent and
SolaVent ventilation/sunpipe products.
Article Last Modified: 15:31, 8th Aug 2007
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