Flat roofed extension - flat rooflights or lantern

[GolightlyMrsGolightly]

Any experiences. I love the look of the flat rooflights like in the image below but does anyone have any experience of tips? It's a south west facing extension - will be kitchen and dining area.

Personally I wouldn't. You'll get enough light from the patio doors / wall windows. I have accessible Velux in a loft extension and would not put them in a ceiling.

• difficult to open/close and clean
• you furniture and furnishing will get sun bleached

-you'll have to be careful of mirrors / mirrored surfaces to avoid the risk of fire

• if you put up blinds and keep the blinds shut, it is worth having them in the first place?
• there's a strong risk that room will get very hot in the summer

If it's a true flat roof and you need the extra light, I'd have lanterns rather than flat rooflights. They'll need cleaning constantly I'd imagine if it's flat without any possibility of run off.

Two of my neighbours have rear extensions - the "posh" one is flat roofed with lanterns and they're up there a lot of the time clearing off leaves and debris. The second "cheaper" extension is a slightly pitched roof with veluxes in and I've never seen them have to clean it.

I would make sure the roof isn’t flat. They tend to get water ponding on them and are more likely to leak as a result. Make sure there is a slope - even if it’s not much of a slope. Enough for water to drain off it effectively.

We have a very large roof lantern. It lets in a lot of light and it’s the best part of the house. It’s my kitchen! I get a happy feeling going in there each morning. The light and seeing the sky is just great, even on a rainy day!

Ensure the glass panels are sloping. You can get ones, if fitted flush with the roof, will allow leaves etc to slide off. There are makes other than velux but try and get them to open electrically. You need ventilation because more glass means more heat. We have two large opening panels in ours.

I would always go for more light. We have a big roof light on our landing too. None of the cons above have ever happened to us!

Absolutely put them in, it'll make such a difference! The fire risk is total bollocks.

I have a flat one, it's triple glazed and fixed (non-openable) - well they're never flat, they're always at a slight angle regardless of how flat the roof is so the rain runs off. I need to clean it as often as my windows - mine is 5m long and I wouldn't change it.

The fire risk is not bollocks. A quick Google will give you plenty links to Fire and Rescue Service advice.

I'm sure one recent one was started by a glass crystal pendant.