With such high levels of daylight all year round, most homeowners know that they can greatly reduce their overall reliance on artificial lighting­– which isn’t so great for our health. But, by using more natural lighting in your home, it not only creates more attractive lighting, which is perfect for a working space, but it often means cheaper utility bills too. So how can you make the most of this natural lighting? Rooflights of course!

In terms of energy consumption, thermal efficiency is a rather big deal for most of the leading skylight manufacturers within the UK. Therefore, it’s not too difficult to find market-leading U-value technology, guaranteeing excellent efficiency. But it’s also important to note that rooflights also make financial sense. Within the colder months when the sun goes down sooner, they allow you to make the most of the limited hours of sunlight, yet when the summer arrives, you’ll never get to turn your home or office lights on – especially during peak summer when the sun sets around 9.30pm.

Promoting healthiness and good mood

There’s nothing quite like the ability to look around your home or office, search and see nothing but sky through your remarkable skylight. It isn’t just the sense of awe of gazing to the heavens, which will awaken your senses. There are many documented health benefits of exposure to natural light, such as vitamin D production – promoting bone and muscle health as well as metabolism. From assisting within the regulation of sleep cycles to bolstering the nervous system, roof lights can do a great deal for the health of your family and colleagues who share your space.

Ventilation

Ventilation is of course another added bonus too. If your property suffers from distinctly poor air quality, then considering installing one or a few skylights I a wise option, because it can help with this issue too. Opening skylights will generally open and close electronically to recycle the air in your home or workplace through ventilation. Therefore, you can discover rooflights that are designed to open easily, so the moment you need some fresh air, you have it, and it also enables you to create a cosy atmosphere that naturally rises in your building, which helps to make the space more warm and welcoming for visitors. An opening skylight can transform living spaces like roof terraces, giving you with an altogether new point of access to maximise outdoor space.

 Roof access

Many people prefer to access their flat roof every now and then, to clean, maintain or unwind with a book in the sun (if you have a terrace), and it’s relatively easy to find a high quality skylight that completely opens.

Privacy

With homes and offices being much closer together with very little garden space, it’s become a challenge to supply much access to natural daylight while also preserving the privacy of a building’s occupants. It’s a problem with many new development sites in the UK, with too much focus on quantity rather than quality. That said, a commercial and domestic skylight can solve help, even if you have a shortage of an angle which prevents any people from nearby buildings peeping in. This is obviously a pretty important consideration for the more private spaces such as bathrooms – but it still allows for maximum natural light.

Planning permission

Planning permission is never a problem for property owners looking to put in a skylight, albeit it’s a replacement addition to an existing roof. That said, it’s always worth checking just because some shapes and sizes like a pyramid or lantern skylights may need to be positioned away from the ceiling and could potentially cause a problem with neighbours.