Roof lights

[TheKookySquid]

Hello, just looking for experiences. We are building an extension at the back of our north facing house which will be a kitchen diner with a comfy seating area.It has to be a flat roof and we are trying to decide between a roof lantern and a flat roof light. Would anyone mind sharing their experiences of installation and living with it? Thinking about ease to clean, heat and aesthetics.
Thank you!

Interested as I am in the same position. I am considering flat, triple glazing at the moment as I like the interrupted look but interested to hear experiences. I heard lanterns let in more light and provide extra height with a flat roof.

We added a 4m x4m extension to provide the dining section of our new kitchen. We have a warm flat roof to the extension with a lantern in the roof. The original kitchen and dining room (now knocked into each other) have a velux window each side in the original pitched roof.
We are happy with our decision, the l-shaped room is warm and well lit. We do have to use a extendable feather duster/ hoover monthly for the inside of the lantern to remove dust and cobwebs and several times a year get on a step ladder to give it a wipe down.
I have zero experience with a flat roof-light, I imagine the difference potentially could be water dispersal, sound (rain) and less light.
Hopefully someone here can advise you on that.
Good luck with your project!

We have 2 flat roof lights, 1m x 2m.
northwest facing.
both currently covers in grime, neighbours roof lantern doesn’t seem to have the same issue.
i like the modern look from the inside but in hindsight i think would’ve preferred a large single lantern.

I'll take a guess that the lantern has self cleaning glass which does need a reasonable pitch to be effective.

Ah this is interesting! I might need to rethink our plans 🫣

We put a roof lantern at the back of our extension and on the side in the utility a flat roof. The flat roof is easier to clean on the inside, but the outside gets much dirtier compared to our lantern. The lantern looks much better though and lets in so much more light. We bought ours from Tuffx Glass and the service was great.

Is height an issue? I'm wondering why you have to go flat roof compared to pitched. For a flat roof I'd go for a roof lantern, visually I prefer it, water would run off it which would help with cleaning, and also you can get some that can open to allow for ventilation.

On a pitched roof a Velux does the same thing, and a pitched roof is less likely to have issues.

Do pay attention to the cost though as the latest building regs require super energy efficient glass to get the new structure to the insulation requirements. That costs.

If you go with flat roof lights it's worth paying the extra for ones that open. We have 3 in our extension along with bifold door. We didn't think we'd need openers as we could just open the doors, but sometimes it would be nice to just open the roof lights instead. Plus any flies, etc. that come in go straight to the roof light and then can't get out.

We have opening ones in our utility/loo and prefer them.