How to Block Heat from Skylights? A Solution Based Guide

Skylights are extremely valuable for bringing in natural light to a property; however, overheating it during summer months also poses a problem. If you are trying to figure out how to control excessive heat coming through your skylights, HVAC technology is the best way out. Your living areas could unintentionally become scorching hot, increasing cooling expenses and making conditions unbearable.

If all of this sounds too familiar, it is certainly time to explore practical ways of controlling heat from skylights, which will help transform your rooms and eliminate the annoying hike on your energy bill.

By choosing triple-glazed, Low-E or solar control glass, you can enjoy the benefits of skylight brightness without overheating your room. Rooflights & Skylights UK offers a wide range of these glass types, letting homeowners tailor their solution for enhanced thermal comfort and energy efficiency.

Problems with Skylight Heat Generation

As with many modern applications, the usage of skylights poses both benefits and drawbacks; one of the latter includes excess heat during summer months which results in expensive cooling bills. Skylights are a perfect access point for fresh air, but at the same time they become strong sensors for heat if the glass type isn’t adequate. Additionally, the internal temperature of your home can now be damaged and the loss suffered during summer adds fuel to the fire.

Skylights can transform pleasant rooms into uncomfortably hot spaces, requiring urgent air conditioning and significant energy expenditure. This situation is worsened by the sun's heat during summer, drastically raising indoor temperatures on sunny days. During winter months, however, the same solar heat gain can be beneficial, as it serves as an additional aid in cold weather.

Choosing the Right Glass Type

Double-Glazed (Toughened)

Standard option providing good insulation. Double-glazed toughened glass helps reduce heat loss in winter but is less effective at preventing heat gain in summer.

Triple-Glazed

Excellent insulating value. Triple glazing helps both retain heat in winter and dampen solar heat in summer. Ideal for UK climates where both insulation and heat control are important.

Low-E (Low-Emissivity) Coated Glass

Low-E glass has a microscopic and invisible coating that reflects infrared radiation, reducing summer heat gain and dampening winter heat. All Rooflights & Skylights UK glass types are Low-E, so overheating is not an issue with us. This glass type (available both for double and triple glazing) balances natural light with temperature control.

Self-Cleaning Glass

Self-cleaning glass has a special treatment of the outer surface, that helps water sheet off more easily, preventing grime/dust build-up that can trap.

Tinted or Solar Control Glass

These options alter the glass transparency and are usually available in subtle hues such as Blue, Grey, or Aqua. Helps reduce glare and solar gain while maintaining transparency and aesthetic quality.

Clear Aside Misdirected Efforts for Simple Maintenance Solutions

So many simple methods can make a difference in heat management, like reducing uncontrolled heat transfer over gaps and cracks with weather stripping. It minimises hot air intrusion over the summer and heat emission during the winter, while also preventing unwanted energy loss through the gaps in isolation over the frames.

Simple maintenance tasks, like regularly cleaning the skylights can assist in further reducing energy consumption by increasing the rate of light transmission through the windows into the room. In addition to that, clean windows, as compared to dirty ones, tend to increase heat blockade efficiency.

Cleaning skylights assists in increased light entry into the room, as well as improves energy conservation by reducing the usage of electric lighting during the day. By choosing the most suited remedy to your specific case from the aforementioned paragraphs, it is easy to maintain the optimal temperature in each case.

While external shutters greatly increase the blockage of sunlight entering rooms through windows or other forms and maintain good control over the windows, they severely limit natural light flow into the rooms which lowers comfort level in the house.

Think about your boundaries budget for the blinds or shutters, comfort set for the amount of light required by you, and the working temperature in your house to help you juxtapose between preferred outcome and light blockage. With time, many users have pointed out that the best improvement outcome is achieved with the use of multiple targeting devices at once.

Final Thoughts

Thermal comfort during summer months does not have to come at the cost of enjoying natural light emitted through skylights. As long as the right approaches are deployed, the welcoming conditions that are so valuable to skylights can be maintained.

If you're replacing or planning to install new skylights, advanced glazing can maintain ideal control of excess heat for a long time. When choosing your skylight or roof lantern, hhis is what you need to keep in mind:

 

Low-Emissivity (Low-E) Glass

Low-E glass is made with a thin metallic coating that reflects infrared radiation while letting visible light through. It helps in keeping the homes cool in summer and warm in winter, thus providing year-round energy efficient advantages. It is a great investment for new installations or replacements.

 

Double and Triple Glazing

Unlike single panes, double and triple glazing have two or three layers of glass with air or gas in between them. This construction helps with heat retention in winter and also prevents heat from entering in the summer. Areas with extreme temperatures greatly benefit from triple glazing due to its superior insulation.

At Rooflights and Skylights UK, our experts will work with you to devise a plan tailored to your specific requirements. We are ready to talk to you today about solutions to optimise your home's comfort while preserving natural daylight that beautifies your interiors.