4 Points To Think About When Fitting Commercial Skylights

Commercial skylights can be a real benefit to most types of business premises, offering not only aesthetic advantages but also practical ones.

They are also a costly investment and one that should be considered carefully before taking the plunge.

As important as the windows themselves is how they are fitted, and who you work with to do the installation. An experienced provider will mean that your commercial skylight project goes off without a hitch.

Positioning

When considering putting in a skylight the first point that most people think is that they need to put in as many as possible, to let in as much light as possible. It will be lovely for everyone to get the benefit of the warmth and light of the sun while they are working, right?

Yes, to a point. But if you position your skylight in a place where it gets the sun all day, this can actually mean that the room ends up heating up too much and you create a sort of greenhouse effect. This will leave your employees hot and uncomfortable.

Not only this, but it is actually possible for the sun to damage your skin through the glass. Most types of glass block out the rays that cause you to get a suntan or a sunburn, but they don’t block out the rays, which cause premature ageing of the skin and some forms of cancer.

When positioning your skylight it’s good to bear this in mind, and try to put it somewhere that it will let in a lot of light but won’t be directly under the intensity of the sun.

Aesthetic appeal

The next point to consider is the aesthetic appeal. Installing skylights is a great opportunity to give your business premises a modern look and change the feel of the room.

You can use an octagonal roof lantern if you want to bring sunlight into the center of the room and create an effect comparable to a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Alternatively, a flat-roof skylight will leave dappled sunny reflections all over your room, which will move throughout the day as the sun does.

What functionality do they need?

With commercial skylights it's not all about looks. They serve a number of practical functions too. For example, skylights might be used to provide access to the roof in case maintenance is needed.

They can also be a great way to get some extra ventilation in your building—allowing more airflow without having to have side windows open, which can cause disruptive gusts of air.

Some skylights are also specifically designed with fire safety in mind—allowing smoke to escape through the roof in case of a fire. You can even get skylights that have photovoltaic cells incorporated so that you can use your skylight to generate energy.

Durability

You don’t want to end up replacing your skylights too often, because not only is that expensive, it’s a disruption to your business and it will take up your time on each occasion that it needs to be done.

When you’re shopping around for skylights be sure to check on the expected lifespan of the product. In general, you can expect commercial skylights to last between eight and fifteen years.

Your skylight provider should be able to offer you some kind of guarantee.

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