Controlling the Light

Again, there are several choices that you can make in determining the best solution for controlling the amount of light and/or heat allowed into your home.

Light-block shades are the best way to block light from entering your room from a skylight. The best place for this type of shade would be a bedroom to block the early morning light, block light for daytime sleeping, or most important; blocking the moon’s rays from traveling across your face while trying to sleep!

Other choices are cellular shades and venetian blinds. Cellular shades let in a translucent or diffused light. (Blocks all direct rays shining into the home) Venetian blinds block most of the direct light but allow a little to sneak through around the edges. You can move the fins entirely out of the way or pivot them in place to control the amount of light.

All of these shades can be made custom to fit your openings, but if you have a quality product such as Velux Skylights, the shades are very inexpensive. Velux also offers electrically controlled shades.

Another solution is sunscreens (see Controlling the Heat)

The worst choice is using films. Installed improperly or on the wrong type of glass can cost you. If the film is put on any type of glass other than regular clear glass it will cause the glass to loose its seal. This is what happens when you see moisture in-between the insulated glass. Some films turn black over a period of time and again the only way to fix it is to replace the glass. We have replaced a lot of glass over the last twenty-five years when people have chosen to use cheap films to solve their heat problem.