Solar is one way of improving housing for homeowners and also attempting to reduce costs. Tubular skylights are very popular, but many owners still aren’t interested and prefer a skylight to light their homes. In this article, we will talk about what are the drawbacks of solar tube lighting.
There are many reasons why today’s demand for solar tubes is increasing. You may want to know how to make a solar light? From the beginning, solar tube lighting is the ideal solution to enhance your dark indoor areas. While you are maintaining low energy costs. This lighting system can make up for the shortcomings of artificial lighting, enabling an energy-efficient power supply, simple installation, and a low overall cost.
What Is Solar Tube Lighting?
Sun tunnels, light tubes, tubular skylights, and daylight tubes are also called solar tubes by the installed ones as well as narrow tubes running from your roof to the roof of your home to provide external lighting. A metal tube runs from the roof of your home into a dark or windowless room through the ceiling. On the roof end of the tube, an acrylic cap is installed for water resistance.
Then on the ceiling side of the tube, there is a diffuser. That diffuser is mounted in a circular window opening. The diffuser amplifies and spreads incoming light to give a soft but bright glow to the whole room.
Solar tubes are available for households of 10 to 14 inches in different diameters. A tube of 10 inches is as strong as three 100 watt bulbs. This renewable light source is, therefore, an excellent choice for darkened home areas that require light even during the day. These areas are closets, corridors, steps, bathrooms, laundry rooms, and more.
What Are The Drawbacks Of Solar Tube Lighting?
The solar tube lighting system has a fair share of deficiencies, much like any other lighting system. When making a purchasing decision, it is vital to know these limitations. Thus, here are the inconveniences of home solar tube lights.
A Single Energy Source
Depending on one power source alone can be difficult, in particular, if you always want a steady power supply. Solar power systems only have one way of gaining energy—and this is through sunlight.
If direct solar light in your area is not enough, possibly because of bad weather or other factors, it will not be practical for the solar tube lighting. Due to its limitations, you may need to store energy to cater for cloudy days or bad weather.
Need Tons Of Installation Space
There may not be enough space for installing a solar tube light if you have a small house. During installation, solar tube lights take a lot of room. If you install the system in a wider space, as much sunlight as possible will capture enough energy to light your home.
On the other hand, the solar light will not absorb sufficient energy when you hardly get enough space in your house. When you install this natural lighting, every inch is important. If you plan to light a large volume of space, you will need to ensure that you have ample space in your home to fulfill the installation needs.
Insufficiency of Universal Suitability
Solar tubes are not suitable for any home. Since they are confined to certain types of roof design and material. It is practically impossible to install sun tubes on flat or steeply pitched roofs, with some challenges. The material from your roof will also determine if the solar tube can be mounted.
Solar tube systems are ideal for conventional roofs that slop from 15 to 60 degrees. They are also designed to be installed on wooden or asphalt roofs. If you’re going to install a solar tube on a metal or tile roof, you’re going to need to fix it with an adaptor.
Impossible Of Ventilation
You know that if you have used a skylight in your house, it can provide both lighting and ventilation in your room. You can open the windows with a standard skylight to vent out heat or enjoy a gentle breeze, without going outside.
Lights cannot be opened for heat release or to let air in for solar tube lighting. It must also be noted that the amount of light transmission to the house becomes less when the solar tube becomes longer. In certain areas, this makes them ineffective.
No Control Over Lighting
The solar tube lighting has no power feature, so you have little or no control over the light quality you allow in your room. You can only control the light quantity that the solar tube can provide. In 10- products and no products found diameter there are two common Solar Tube options available.
Naturally, you can take control of the lighting from a diffuser or a window film. But that single factor is limited, and you may be exposed to extreme sunlight for days. In addition, you can distribute UV light in your room with various options, including shades, when using ventilated skylights.
Expensive Initial Investment
It is common knowledge that solar pipeline lighting, in the long run, is cost-effective because maintenance or running costs are little to no. Yet, the initial price is relatively high for any solar-powered system. You’ll be aware that the upfront costs are higher than the conventional power system if you take into consideration the first cost of purchasing the solar tube and setup.
A big project on the solar pipe lights that generate the same energy as conventional electricity requires a lot of capital. Worse still, it is absolutely costly to move from the supply of regular electricity to natural solar energy.
No Skye Views
Without any doubt, the comfort of your home can be exhilarating if you get a natural view of the skies. The solar pipe lighting, however, shatters the stargazing dream.
It has limited or no inside views of the sky. This option is not for you if you like the type of guy who loves star-watching at night or even checking the weather.
Limited Design
The skylight allows you to design your architecture to meet your unique taste and desire in many ways. You can add a luxurious atmosphere to your room with a skylight that makes it seem larger and lighter than it is.
Solar pipe illumination systems for homes, however, are relatively basic and are intended primarily to light up. Most solar light tubes are too small to change the look and feel of a room significantly.
Water Condensation Issues
The majority of light pipes are made of aluminum material, a great heat conductor. The problem, however, is that moist air enters the solar tube and leads to water condensation when you live in high-humidity climates. You may discover that the condensed water accumulates on the light dome, which reduces its life dramatically.
In addition, the accumulated water can enter your rooms. It can destroy your walls and damage your paint if the water flows into your home. You could want to wrap the light tube in R-15 batt isolation before installing it to minimize problems with water condensation.
Not Very Dependable
Solar power is certainly an excellent and cheap source of energy that can help reduce unbelievable monthly electricity bills. This type of lighting, however, is only suitable for non-critical problems.
Although the technology of solar tube lighting has advanced over the years. For every occasion, it still is not very confident. You will need strong and consistent sunlight for strong operation when using a solar-powered system. Solar tube lighting, therefore, does not fit every circumstance.
How Does It Compare To A Skylight?
These windows are mounted just like a solar tube on your roofs, but because of the large volume they need, they require a lot more installation time, materials, and work. They are efficient to allow light. Yet, they can also warm the room with the solar energy through which they can pass.
Not only because they allow light, but also because of the view of the sky they offer. These are very much popular. In contrast, solar tubes are thinner, tighter, and do not provide a wide opening of the sky.
Benefits Of Solar Tube Lighting
As mentioned above, this type of lighting enables the lighting of areas. Those are generally darkened due to the design of the home architecture. This will save power in the long run and make it an economical solution.
They do not increase room temperature or allow heat loss in the winter and, because of their form and size, look very much like ordinary lighting fittings. Even if the sun doesn’t shine, this steady source of daylight helps to prevent seasonal affection.
They are often UV-protected to keep your furniture, images, and so forth from any natural fading.
Final Words
You could also consider adding a skylight or solar tube if there are indoor spaces that can benefit from adding a natural light source. Both provide direct sunlight to reduce your electricity bills while enhancing your areas throughout the day as a solar solution.
Both options have their advantages and disadvantages, and before making a final decision you have to take into consideration all the offers. If you installed any of these, we would like to hear what you love and what you want about the concepts in general.
