[sueblack]

We had large sola tubes installed in kitchen, living room & garage. Two smaller ones installed in two large closets. True you do think the light is on at times and realize it is the natural light. The closets are great because you can see everything in there in its true color. No confusion over dark green, black or gray. I would not put one in the bedroom, I find I have to ensure the closet doors are closed if I wish to take a nap during the day. I like a dark room to nap in and dark shades help on the windows. We also used Solar Guys and they were great. Installed 10 years ago and no problem so far.

[cwhitecat]

I have one in kitchen, both bathrooms and master closet.

[Wing-nut2]

We have one in the kitchen, one in each bath and one in the dining room. If you put one in the bedroom, a lighting storm will turn your room into a disco.

[Fostercc]

We have one in each bathroom and one in center of kitchen area.
They give off a lot if light.
Our kitchen one also has a built-in light with switch to turn on at night
I would never put one in living room/den, it could hamper light on TV....or bedroom.
Our master bath has vanity/mirror area adjacent to bed area with solar tube overhead. It is too bright early morning, no door there to shut, wish I could cover it somehow.
...my opinion

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Wing-nut2

We have one in the kitchen, one in each bath and one in the dining room. If you put one in the bedroom, a lighting storm will turn your room into a disco.

Is that good or bad?

[Mikee1]

Unless something has changed, the developer will NOT install solar tubes. You will need to arrange for them after closing.

[Toymeister]

The large brand name solar tube brands offer important accessories not available from the off brand. I am not sure which brand the builder uses.

Velux, offered by the Markets of Marion dealer and the Brand from the Solar guys both offer a means to darken the tubes. Both offer different types of light defusers and LED options

Velux offers triple glazing at the lens for energy efficiency. It is an option. Velux also offers a sun filter which filters out some of the sun as it approaches solar noon.

With the triple glazing the Velux is roughly as efficient as the worst window sold, as measured by U value. Any brand tube is horrible in the efficiency department as they are installed. Triple glazing is the only way to go.

The high noon screen is an effective way to lessen the solar gain.

I installed both of these options. They were not even mentioned by the dealer. I passed on the darkening devices. There are two of those, manual and automated.

[Rzepecki]

I usually follow your same logic, not wanting to mix companies because, if there’s a problem, they’ll get into the blame game. But with solar tubes, it’s a different situation IMO. I think you need to live in your new house, see where the dark areas are that you’re always turning on lights during the day, then decide where to locate the solar tubes. Solar Guys does such an excellent job that I don’t think you’ll regret waiting. Also, I prefer solar tubes to electric light during the day, but you may find, after living in your house, that you prefer an electric solution.

[Bethwill]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Another problem with solar tubes is the you will always try to turn them off when you leave a room. The LED "daylight" bulbs provide light that is similar to natural light and they only use about 20 percent of the energy of incandescent light bulbs.

I'm not a fan of the light solar tubes provide. I prefer to use 100 watt led DAYLIGHT bulbs over the kitchen sink (pendants), daylight fluorescents in laundry room, and daylight LEDs above vanities in bathrooms. It's like sunshine everywhere.

[CBarrett]

I wish we would have put one in the laundry room and in the guest bath. Both are very dark w/o turning on the light.

[islandtiempo]

Originally Posted by Labanz

Agree with last comment. I cannot understand installing solar tubes instead of additional LED fixtures. When I priced both payback on solar tubes were over 30 years.

Another vote for Led dimmable recessed lighting. You are unnecessarily penetrating the roof for lighting you can't control. We had five. One stated leaking. Took them all out when we redid the ceiling.

[tshirt]

Make sure they are licensed and have guaranteed not to leak!

[Slakeforest]

Originally Posted by Troy8432

Bought a new Begonia and close next month. I plan on having developer install prior to closing to avoid any possible conflicts between developer and non-developer installer in case of a leak. We know we want at least one in the kitchen over the sink and one in the master bath. Not sure what size or additional locations. Interested in recommendations.

We bought a six year old Begonia last year. We decided to add two skylights, one in the kitchen and one in our laundry room. We purchased and installed by the Solar Guys. Very reputable and treated us with respect as a customer, The kitchen has a 12 inch skylight and the laundry room was a 10 inch skylight and we added a nightlight to the laundry room skylight. No regrets and would highly recommend both contractor and the skylights. What a difference the skylights make, Hope this helps

[Chatbrat]

By changing the lamps in a Begonia (laundry room) from soft -white, to ultra daylight you have equivalent of daylight, did the same in the garage--now you can see your cars' true color & way brighter too

By the way lamps are also called bulbs/flourescent tubes

[ProfessorDave]

Love our solar tubes. Don't put in bedrooms. We have in master closet, kitchen, family room. See lots of comments about issue with penetrating roofing. Conceptually, sounds right but reality - not a risk. (I was "senior executive" of the largest roofing manufacturer in the country for years - and never heard of a solar tube caused leak - and currently do consulting for a group of 350 large roofing contractors across the country.)