What Are the Benefits of Installing Fixed Skylights?
If you're building an extension or converting roof space into a room, then you may need to find a way to get light into the space. Skylights are a good way of doing this.
While opening skylights have their benefits, there may be times when you'll be better off installing fixed skylights instead. These products let light in like regular windows, but they don't open.
What are the advantages of fixed skylights?
Get an Affordable Light Source
If ventilation isn't an issue and you simply need skylights to bring natural light into a room, then fixed products work well. They'll also save you money.
An opening skylight is more complicated than a fixed product. You pay for an outer frame, the window and the operating mechanism. You may also need to buy opening handles or automated systems to open and close the window if it is set up high.
A fixed skylight is essentially a pane of glass that is set within a frame. It has a less complex construction and, as such, costs less to produce. So, you could save money on your purchasing and installation costs by using fixed products for some or all of your window spaces.
Get More Thermal Efficiency
While both opening and fixed skylights go into holes in a roof structure, they don't both have the same effects on the roof's thermal efficiency. An opening skylight might not be as efficient as a fixed one.
If you install an opening skylight, the window itself can let in outside air even when it is closed. While the window should be well insulated and tightly-fitting to start with, this insulation may reduce over time. The act of opening and closing the window may also make the window or its opening mechanism move slightly out of place over the years.
So, an opening skylight is more likely to let in draughts or warm air if it loses its airtightness. On the other hand, a fixed skylight doesn't move. It is simply fixed into its frame and has no opening parts.
This option is better insulated. It will create a barrier between the internal temperature in your home and the weather outside. So, you won't lose valuable warm or cooled air from the inside of your home and you won't have to deal with cold draughts and heat coming in through the window.
To find out more about how fixed skylights work and how they could possibly enhance your home, contact skylight window manufacturers.