Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Are sun pipes a good idea?

28 replies

Inforthelonghaul · 20/04/2019 16:58

I’ve heard of these but never really considered one before. My house has no window or natural light on the upstairs landing or downstairs in the hall either. Would a sun pipe installed over the stairwell make it feel brighter and more spacious? I’ve never seen one in real life so no idea if they really deliver good results. It really is the only solution I can think of but I need to sell it to DH.

OP posts:

Bayleyf · 20/04/2019 17:39

I looked at them but wasn't totally convinced.

The fixture bit looks more like an electric light fitting than a window to me, so it felt artificial rather than sunny.

It obviously would help you save on the bills, but it's nowhere near the same as having a window.

Sorry...

2020ihavenoname · 20/04/2019 17:54

Tried one of these when we had an extension and blocked up our landing window so needed to get light onto landing and into hallway.
Hardly any light came through, wasn’t any use at all despite our architect saying it would be fine! It was so dim that it looked like one of those emergency lights that come on when the power fails. Awful.
We had a Velux window put into the roof and it’s brilliant. Have a look at one of those. Our landing and hallway is really bright now. They are quite simple for a builder to install, there is a bit of carpentry involved but they look great.

Original poster

Inforthelonghaul · 21/04/2019 04:07

Well thank you that’s probably save me making a bad decision. Unfortunately a vela’s isn’t an option, there is no external wall on my landing or stairwell so nowhere to put a window.

I had high hopes but I suspect if it sounds too good to be true........

OP posts:

Purplepjs · 21/04/2019 04:12

We had one put above our stairs as there was no external wall for a window and it really made a difference. We were very pleased with it. Ours had a large, flat disc...sounds different to what’s described above but we were pleased.

flapjackfairy · 21/04/2019 04:20

They are truly rubbish. We had one and it made no difference whatsoever. Except to my bank balance

7Days · 21/04/2019 06:33

It does brighten the place up. My friend has one in her upstairs landing, it's akin to the light you'd get from a fanlight over a door. It's nice not to have a bulb burning in the day but you won't be bathed in light.
The only problem is there are couple of dead flies in my friends one. I don't know if that's from being badly installed or there's no way to get in and clean it.
So think on that, mate.

Original poster

Inforthelonghaul · 21/04/2019 13:18

Oohhhh no I’m tempted again. I would happily spend the couple of hundred to buy one and try, it’s the hole in the roof but that concerns me because I’m not sure how easy it would be to repair.

I do so want something though, I’m fed up of living in the dark.

OP posts:

2020ihavenoname · 21/04/2019 14:35

OP you don’t need an external wall , the builder cuts a hole in your landing ceiling the size of the Velux, then he constructs an enclosed opening up to your roof through your loft think of it like a wide chimney type opening which then gets plastered and painted white and the Velux window sits at the top. Imagine an open ended cardboard box sitting above an opening on your landing; so the top is the Velux window and the bottom is the opening on your landing. Not sure how to photograph and post to show you how you end up with a little construction in your loft from landing ceiling to the roof. It looks great.

Flyingsouthwiththeswallows · 21/04/2019 18:25

I had two, one in the bathroom and one in the hall.

I thought they were useless and hated them.

Even worse, one Summer, something got into one of the tubes and died. I had to watch maggots then flies buzzing around for weeks.

Would never have one again.

XingMing · 21/04/2019 19:29

Love mine, it's in the landing corridor which gets no natural light at all and for 10 days after it was installed, I was trying to turn off the electric lights. It does get the occasional fly and some dust but I remove the bottom panel and wash it once or twice a year.

BreakfastAtSquiffanys · 22/04/2019 06:48

A friend got one installed in her windowless landing and it's amazing.
It is a 3 storey house and it makes a difference all the way down to the lower ground level.
Most people go for the 12 inch one in domestic settings as that fits between the joists so easy to install.
She went for a more expensive 16 inch (I think) which is what Really made the difference.

MaybeitsMaybelline · 22/04/2019 06:58

Mine was like this until we had a loft conversion then it meant the stairs to the second floor were open to the roof and could have a velux.

We then did a small extension off the front for a second loo which again we left open to the pitch of the roof and another velux. What a difference.

Finally a couple glass panels in the front door and we are no longer like moles.

SockEatingMonster · 22/04/2019 07:13

Some friends installed 4 when they renovated their bungalow. 2 in the long dark internal hallway and 1 in each of the internal en-suite bathrooms. The hallway and one of the en-suites were amazing. Not quite like a velux, but like having a small window or open doors to naturally light-filled rooms. The other en-suite was less successful. Apparently it was to do with where the light intakes were situated on the roof.

They were a lot more than a couple of hundred pounds though, so I don’t know if that makes a difference.

minipie · 23/04/2019 00:13

I would agree with having a skylight above the landing, with a plasterboarded “chimney” as described above between the landing ceiling and the velux. Ideally the chimney widens outwards as it goes down towards the landing to allow more light downwards. We have this above our stairs and it’s brilliant, sends loads of light down the stairs and also great for letting heat out in the summer (though hard to open/shut unless you motorise it)

NotPennysBoat · 23/04/2019 06:31

We have one on our windowless landing, the difference it's made is amazing. I would highly recommend, I'm really surprised at people saying they're rubbish!

GoFiguire · 23/04/2019 06:52

But you would need a light as well for when it gets dark

Original poster

Inforthelonghaul · 23/04/2019 06:57

I love the idea of a skylight but it would take a big chunk of loft space. If I had the sort of landing that you could have one that was visible from the downstairs hall I think it would look amazing but if you only saw it as you were going upstairs I’m not so sure. I like the idea of the pipes as they seem quite unintrusive, it could be placed on a south facing roof too which I think makes a difference. So much to think about.

OP posts:

Lisette1940 · 23/04/2019 06:58

www.velux.co.uk/products/sun-tunnels/lux-calculator

You might find this calculator useful OP. We have the same problem in our landing so thanks for the thread.

PrincessTiggerlily · 23/04/2019 07:03

Maybe it's the south/north facing/sloping that makes a difference.

mousehouse123 · 23/04/2019 10:11

We had one on a dark landing in our old house and it made a massive difference, we have put 3 now in the long hallway of our bungalow and they've made a massive difference. All have been south facing. We used the monodraught ones - they have a multi-faceted rooflight which (they say and I'm convinced by) helps pull the sun into the tube from different angles, so that it gets the light for much longer than when it's just overhead. sunpipe.monodraught.com/ (no idea if that link will work, sorry!). We looked at the velux ones for our bungalow, they're less intrusive on the outside, as they have a flat panel of glass which looks much more like a tiny velux, but we thought that the light in would be significantly reduced. One of the 4 has had flies in it, but it's been cleaned and resealed and no problems since.

CanYouHearThePeopleSing · 23/04/2019 12:29

We have one over our stairwell (no windows) and it's amazing. It's on a south facing roof. When it's light outside it's like someone has switched a bright light on. We love it.

NotMeNoNo · 23/04/2019 15:53

We had some good sun pipes from a company called Lightway, they had a glass dome in the roof and a mirrored tube not a crinkly foil flexible pipe. Two of them on a south facing roof really lit up our enclosed hallway, such that there was no need to use the lights during the day.

BetLynchStyle · 24/04/2019 00:48

My parents have them in a few bathrooms and a storage room on the first floor of a three storey house - they couldn’t get planning for windows on one side so they tried these.

It’s not the same as having a window but certainly adds some light where there would have been none otherwise.

Ifonlyiweretaller · 26/04/2019 19:28

We have something similar to the 'tunnel with a velux' as described by @2020Ihavenoname in our porch as I found it too dark and depresssing. My OH calls it the 'folly' because the 'tunnel' had to go through an upstairs (once very useful) cupboard so no storage there any more, and it was expensive to do compared to the benefit we got from it. But to me the difference was worth every penny!

mangocoveredlamb · 27/04/2019 23:23

We have the velum/chimney arrangement! I’m going to try and attach a picture, bare in mind it’s dark!!
It makes a huge difference in terms of light on our upstairs landing, and we have a door unit in from the loft which is handy for getting tall things in and out of the loft!

Flip

1 2