5 Ways Skylights Make Your Home Better in the Summer

Those who are considering installing skylights in their home will hear about how skylights are a detriment to your home in the summer. After all, they allow light and heat into your home, raising your cooling bills. Right?

No! Skylights are like windows for your roof. As windows, they can have window dressings that keep the intense summer heat out of your home. You can install covers and shades, even black-out shades, on your skylights so you can block the sun when you want to. Most skylights also have special glazing to reduce the heat that enters through them.

Skylights are a benefit to your home, even in the summer. Here’s how.

1. Improve Ventilation

Skylights can actually help cool your home in the summer by providing ventilation for humidity and hot air. Hot air rises and collects just below your skylight. Your air conditioner can blow cool air into your home, but it can’t remove the heat

Opening that skylight for a few minutes per day, will actually allow that hot air to leave your home, so the cool air from your air conditioner can take it’s place.

2. Balance Humidity

Opening up your skylight briefly will also allow humidity to escape. Humidity levels actually affect how comfortable we feel in the heat. A dry heat is much more bearable, especially for those with lung conditions like asthma, allergies, and COPD.

In fact, many people install skylights in their bathroom strategically, so they can let out the humidity from showers before it can even dissipate into the rest of the home. This keeps humidity levels very manageable. So, if you install skylights you may not need to buy a dehumidifier.

3. Improve Mood

Missing that summer sunshine when you’re indoors? Skylights will allow natural sunlight into your home, which can boost your mood if you suffer fro SAD.

Seasonal Affective Disorder is caused by a lack of sunlight exposure. Reduced sunlight can affect your biological clock, melatonin and serotonin levels, causing you to sleep poorly and feel more irritable. Those who do night shifts or work in an office many not get enough sun even in the summer. A skylight can help you get the sunlight exposure you need. In particular, skylights in home offices or bedrooms can help you wake up and work better.

Even those who don’t suffer from SAD will find that the summer sun brightens their mood. A skylight should be installed in the right place, on the right angle, so this light is never glaring. Instead, a skylight should diffuse sunlight and make any room more comfortable to read and work in.

4. Make Rooms Feel Larger

Rooms that are dark appear smaller and can make you feel claustrophobic. Adding a skylight to a small dark room can make it feel much bigger and more open. A view of the sky is just what small rooms need to feel more usable.

5. Increase Home Value

Skylights can boost the value of your home. Buyers prefer homes that feel bright, and understand the other benefits that a skylight brings to the house.

Between ventilation and natural light, skylights offer your home even more benefits in the summer than other seasons. Remember, if your new skylight is bringing in too much of the summer sun, you can always shut the blinds.