One of the reasons we love windows so much is that they let light and air in. We love ceiling to floor windows because there is so much light filling the room brightening it and making it look bigger. It’s beneficial for our psychological wellbeing and for a positive mood. But not only large windows do that, skylights act in the same way. Actually these can be even more soothing because all we see through them is sky, clouds, sun, raindrops or snowflakes. Also, skylights can be a part of an energy saving plan, because, besides lighting the room naturally, they are very efficient at gaining heat.
There are a few types of skylights and any window manufacturer will know to recommend the most suitable for your new home: tinted, vented, fixed or equipped with a shutter system. Also, depending on the reason you are choosing to install one, skylights can be very energy efficient windows, if they are triple glazed and timber framed.
If the roof is the most common place to install a skylight, some designers defy this rule and install them either over the head in the bedroom, allowing stargazing at night, or over the bathtub in a modern bathroom, allowing natural light to create a cosy ambience, but also intimacy, in comparison with a regular window.
Of course there are the regular places where skylights fit perfectly: in a kitchen, in a living room, over a staircase. Please view the gallery on the left.
You can opt for a skylight, or an oculus (a rounded opening usually located in the centre of a dome) to add more drama to a building or a room. Rounded openings in the ceiling are special because of the way light moves around the room when entering through them.
