skylights Archives - H is for Home Harbinger

You may have seen photographs of roof lights online and considered whether they would be a good idea for your home. Just like any home improvement project, installing pitched roof windows requires some consideration, such as whether your roof is a good candidate for one. Regardless, they have several benefits that will convince you they’re a good idea.

Energy efficiency

Every home-owner wants their home to use as little energy as possible. Roof windows can help with this. Since they let in enough sunlight during the day, they eliminate the need for artificial lights in parts of the house that would require one if they weren’t installed. They also let heat into the home, meaning that you can delay turning on heating in the early evening. Lastly, pitched roof roof lights allow air currents into the home. By doing so, they help keep a home cool in hotter months, thereby helping you save on cooling costs.

All the above combined mean that installing a roof light will pay for itself over time due to energy savings.

They can make a home safer

If, unfortunately, you have a fire in your home that you cannot contain, the best thing to do is to leave. It may not always be easy to do this depending on where the fire and the exit are. Some manufacturers make their roof windows UK large enough to be used as a fire escape. Because of this, they become a crucial tool in case of an emergency such as a fire.

They improve privacy

An opening on your home’s roof could lead to additional privacy concerns, especially when other properties are close to yours and overlook it. However, there’s something you can do about this, and that’s installing tinted pitched roof windows.

Some people even opt for a one-way tint that allows them to see out but not for people who are outside to see within. While this can reduce the amount of light that enters the home, the additional light can be enough depending on how the rest of the home is built. The additional privacy can also give you peace of mind.

They can help you create additional space in the home

Loft conversions have become popular in recent years because they allow home-owners to increase the usable space in their homes without extending it. A pitched roof skylight can provide the light required in such a space and help you avoid using artificial lights that increase energy bills.

The good news is that you can get roof windows in the UK made out of different materials and with different looks so they are an excellent fit for your home’s aesthetics.

They increase the home’s value

Valuable and practical home improvements such as adding a pitched roof window can increase the value of a home. This makes them a key consideration if you want to boost your property’s financial worth without undertaking a major renovation.

Installing a skylight is an excellent decision for any home-owner. They can become a functional part of the house, providing numerous benefits. There are numerous pitched roof window options to choose from, so you can easily find some that would be an excellent fit for your home.

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Are you looking for the best way to improve your home?

Perhaps you want a new kitchen, you’ve eyed up a new colour scheme, you’re saving for a new bath, or you want your garden redone?

All great ideas, but, they might not necessarily give you the best value for money. There’s one addition to your home that can give you a wide range of benefits including:

Increasing home value
Increasing the liveability of the home
Increasing how eco-friendly a property is
Bumping up energy efficiency
Improving how aesthetically pleasing a home is

That addition is glass. Read on for 6 reasons using glass to improve your home is a truly fantastic idea.

1. Living in a home with lots of glass could improve your health

Our homes have a lot to do with our health, because they offer us protection, a space to express ourselves, and a place to rest and socialise.

Using a lot of glass in the home like floor to ceiling windows, glass connecting doors and glass roof windows can help you optimise the health benefits of your home. The benefits all relate to the circadian rhythm we all have naturally. This rhythm connects us to the sun and helps us regulate when we sleep and wake properly.

A glass home enables you to have natural light flooding in, satisfying some of your most basic human needs.

2. More glass means more beauty

Glass is a gorgeous material that lets the light pour into a home.

The most modern homes use glass to create an aesthetically pleasing, light and airy space. This is still quite a new change in home design, as a lot of the last 100 years of home design was obsessed with creating more rooms and contained areas. Different rooms for dining, sleeping, living, washing and anything else where necessary for a home to be desirable. Now, open plan living and ‘zoned’ spaces are key to a contemporary home fitting the needs of modern home buyers.

Glass lends itself to open plan living, and without a doubt creates a more beautiful home fit for the demands of home-owners today.

3. Glass extensions add value

According to recent reports, extensions such as conservatories or glass box style rooms can add around 3% onto the value of your property. Any addition that adds space is likely to be of value, but glass extensions like orangeries and conservatories are very desirable because they are so modern and beautiful.

4. Windows could improve energy efficiency

You may think that having more windows or glass in the home will only decrease energy efficiency through leaking heat out of the building, but the most modern windows can actually increase the energy efficiency of your home overall. Triple glazed windows use three sheets of glass with gas filled gaps in between to keep heat in. If you also get a Low E glass and special glass coatings which keep the heat in even more, your home will let more light in and retain the heat inside. So, a home with more windows that are eco-friendly types will at the very least maintain a good energy efficiency rating, but possibly even improve the rating of the home because there are active products keeping the heat in.

5. Glass in the home keeps you happy

Many different studies suggest that we are all happier when we are interacting with nature. MIND UK, a UK mental health charity, actively promote eco-therapy, a programme that involves being outdoors to improve mental health. The Japanese government is also a fan of using the outdoors to help with mental health, actively endorsing something called forest therapy, which is another version of eco-therapy.

Many studies suggest being in nature makes us happier, and part of that can be simply being able to see nature. Seeing your garden through your beautiful external bi-folding doors, or across the local area from your loft extension window, reminds you of the outdoors and that you’re part of nature and something bigger.

6. Glass in the home improves airflow

It may sound basic, but good airflow in a home is actually really important. At its most basic, it provides more fresh oxygen for you to breathe in and benefit from as a family. It also improves the air quality in your home by working against condensation which causes mould, which in turn releases nasty spores into the air that can contribute to respiratory issues.

New build homes are exceptionally energy efficient but they can suffer from being so energy efficient they don’t let the building breathe. Having plenty of windows to open and close means you have the ability to control airflow in your home, contributing to a happier, healthier environment.

Glass really is an exceptional addition to any home. If you want to benefit from a happier, healthier, more valuable, more eco-friendly home, look into adding or improving glass features next time you plan your home improvements.