They were already installed in all 3 of the preowned homes we have lived in. We found them to be beneficial in lighting smaller dark areas such as bathrooms, dressing area, hallways, laundry room. I agree that one in a large open area, such as a living room or kitchen is not too effective. There was a medium size one installed in our kitchen which, as a previous poster suggested, seemed to serve only as a dull lightbulb. When we reroofed, we replaced it with the largest available and added a second large Solatube. The result was a nice bright kitchen.
A suggestion, consider spending a day or so touring open preowned homes of the models similar to yours to see how tubes may have been placed and how effective the lighting may be. Learn from other people's mistakes and use the best of the ideas.
We have seen them installed in closets, but I don't know if the extra light would have a long-term fading effect on tops of the hanging clothes.
We have owned a home in The Villages for over 25 years and never had a leakage problem with the tubes. We have replaced several of the domes because they yellowed after 10 or 15 years.
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All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.
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