Natural daylight is best to let in to increase the surface area of the building visually, but sunlight also has a good impact on our well-being. Unfortunately, it is not possible to install a window in all rooms. How can you let natural light into a room without a window? This is what I found
So what is the best way to make natural light in a windowless room? A skylight is an economical and convenient solution. We reduce our electricity bills by using natural light during the day. We can equip it with an LED lighting set, and it will serve as an energy-saving light at night.
Interiors Without Windows – How to Brighten Them Up Without Increasing Electricity Bills?
Access to natural daylight has a significant impact on our health.
Natural light can fight bacteria, has a stimulating effect, and is a great therapist.
Lack of light adversely affects the human body, so in cloudy, rainy periods, we feel sleepy, apathetic, tired, and depressed growing mental problems in us, depressions appear.
Maximizing the use of natural daylight in the house increases the comfort of living and reduces the need for artificial lighting, reducing the expenditure on electricity.
In a well-designed house, artificial lighting is used only on cloudy days, after sunset and in rooms without windows.
For the energy standard of the house, the way the lighting system is designed and the choice of appropriate light sources is not insignificant.
The best way to get natural light in your home is to design a house with large glazing.
Glazing in the building not only plays an architectural and aesthetic role.
Above all, it has a significant impact on the energy balance of the building, as well as providing appropriate thermal and visual comfort to its users by introducing a large amount of natural daylight into the rooms of our homes.
The glazed part of the façade, mainly due to heat transfer by radiation, supplies both solar energy and natural daylight into the building.
The glazed partitions influence the energy balance of the building through four basic mechanisms:
- heat exchange with the environment
- solar thermal gains
- airflow through window leaks (infiltration)
- natural daylight
This can be largely controlled or reduced using a control system:
The use of materials for the glazing and frame to minimize heat loss through penetration.
The use of appropriate glazing and shading systems to control solar thermal gain to assist the heating system in winter and to minimize the amount of energy needed for cooling and air conditioning in summer.
Suitable construction to ensure high air-tightness with adjustable infiltration levels.
The use of natural daylight to illuminate rooms, and reduce the need for artificial lighting.
Glazing in a building means not only different structural elements – windows, roof windows or balcony doors, but also skylights, atria, winter gardens, or facade systems.
Large Windows
The windows should be large, placed as high as possible.
The upper parts of the window illuminate the room in depth with natural light.
Glass with a higher light transmission (Lt coefficient) allows for better illumination of the interior with natural light.
It is also possible to use self-cleaning glass in windows to better illuminate our homes with natural light.
Self-cleaning Glass
Special coatings applied on the outside of the glass ensure that the glass does not get dirty, but also, thanks to the action of sunlight, the process of decomposition and removal of dirt takes place, thanks to which more natural light enters our rooms.
It is recommended to make internal window joinery and internal surfaces of façade windows only in light colors.
This reduces the contrast between the woodwork and the sky, which in turn increases the impression of space and brightness in the interior.
How Do You Make Natural Light In A Windowless Room? Skylight
If you are looking for a way to let natural light into dark interiors where it is not possible to install roof or vertical windows, consider installing a roof skylight.
This solution will undoubtedly reduce electricity bills. They can be used on any roof – flat or sloping.
Through a skylight, natural light comes inside the building to brighten up the interior.
In many homes, there are rooms such as bathrooms, toilets, corridors, lobbies, wardrobes, which do not receive natural light, and the installation of any windows in them is not possible.
In other rooms, the skylight is an additional source of light, which also saves electricity.
We see a skylight as a glass (often circular) opening in the ceiling through which natural light enters the room.
A decorative ring usually surrounds its acrylic glass. All these parts make up the ceiling element of the skylight.
A roof element is installed on the roof – a flat glass or a dome connected to a sealing collar.
This fragment of the skylight focuses the light falling on the roof slope.
The natural light entering the roof element is then directed to the light tunnel, the central part of the skylight located between the slant of the roof and the ceiling of the room (i.e., the said bathroom, office, etc. ).
This tunnel can take the form of a flexible polyester harmonica or a rigid plastic tube. It reflects the natural light and brings it to the familiar ring in the ceiling.
Simple construction means a relatively simple installation and is one of the arguments in favor of using roof (pipe) skylights.
Skylights achieve the highest light efficiency when placed on the sunniest, i.e., the southern part of the roof.
However, this does not mean that we have to give up natural lighting and use only artificial light.
In dark interiors, tunnel skylights are perfect for tunnels. They can be installed in flat or sloping roofs, both in single-story and multi-story buildings.
They can bring as much light into the room as a conventional 60W incandescent lamp during the day.
How Does Skylight Work?
The principle of operation of the skylight is straightforward, and the effects are even surprising.
The sun’s rays enter the house through the roof, which is installed in a sloping or flat roof.
Then they fall into a light-emitting tunnel made of a rigid metal sheet, which has a reflective coating that reflects up to 98% of them.
When the light enters the interior, it is diffused by the ceiling part of the skylight, which looks like a classic plafond.
The skylight tunnel can be in the form of an extendable harmonica or rigid elements with a highly reflective coating.
In rooms with skylights, you can enjoy the natural light that changes according to the time of day and year.
The amount of sunlight they can emit also depends on the length and type of light tunnel and the position of the roof element with the direction of the world.
Ideally, the roof element should be directed southwards – then it will capture most of the sun’s rays.
The construction of skylights is changing and is continuously being improved by the manufacturers.
For example, the new VELUX ceiling element with a brilliant edge effect is a novelty. It distributes light even more efficiently when it enters the interior.
Where Can I Mount a Skylight?
The skylight can be installed in any living room where subtle natural lighting is required.
The interior can be in the attic or on the ground floor. It does not matter; most often, it is the top floor.
The distance between the ceiling and the roof slope should be less than 6 meters.
You can decide to use a skylight at the stage of designing a building or in the course of its renovation.
Sometimes in a larger room, it’s not enough to have one, but you will need two or three skylights.
When deciding on their quantity, the function of the interior in which they are to be installed should be taken into account.
We’re going to need less light in the hallway and more light in the bathroom.
What Do We Gain From a Skylight?
First of all, we improve the functionality of windowless rooms and the comfort of using them.
Secondly, we can use natural light during the day and thus reduce our electricity bills.
If we additionally equip it with an LED lighting set, it will serve as an energy-saving plafond at night.
A skylight is, therefore, an economical and convenient solution.
How to Replace a Skylight
Open Spaces
Designing a house with large glazing does not have to be done at the expense of lowering the energy standard of the building.
Thanks to modern technologies, products with increased light transmission, such as super colorless glass, are available on the market.
The possibility of coating this type of product allows you to combine high light transmission with other benefits such as sun protection or high thermal insulation.
This guarantees low energy consumption for heating and cooling of the building, improving its energy standard.
Nowadays, open kitchens, lounges connected to the corridor, or bathing rooms are also very fashionable.
Such solutions make interiors more attractive, and natural daylight goes to our homes.
A good effect of interior lighting is also the use of glass with a self-cleaning coating, which eliminates the limitations of light transmission caused by pollution on the external surface of windows and reduces the phenomenon of condensation of water vapor.
In the process of photocatalysis under the influence of ultraviolet radiation, molecules of organic pollutants are broken down.
On the other hand, thanks to the hydrophilic properties of the coating, water vapor condensation takes the form of a water film, which in turn reduces refraction and dispersion of light, improving visibility through windows.
Mirrors
To make small spaces look bigger, we can place large mirrors or mirror cabinets in them.
They will present themselves particularly well in the salon and have a positive impact on our mood.
Widened horizons are conducive to a quick regeneration of strength and allow for deep relaxation. In general, glass is a glossy material due to its absolutely smooth surface.
Some types of glass, coated with a metal oxide coating, have an additional mirror effect (SGG COOL-LITE, SGG ANTELIO). This feature allows for obtaining the effect of images reflected in the façade.
They can also be used in doors and windows.
Glass Walls
Developers increasingly offer proposals to enter an apartment in ground-floor units on the balcony side.
The whole front wall in such an apartment is glazed, and the entrance is placed flush with the ground – without stairs or accesses.
The use of glass front wall makes the apartment is maximally illuminated, and sunlight natural light operates inside for most of the day.
By the way, the householders and guests have the impression that the apartment is much bigger than it really is.
Such a wall also provides an extensive view of the surrounding area or garden.
Textiles
After opening the curtain, the window should be wholly exposed (lack of space for the curtains may reduce the amount of light reaching the room by up to 30%).
Colors
Very important is the color scheme of the room; the walls should be painted in bright colors.
The lighter room gives a sense of spaciousness.
Dark ceilings optically lower the room, causing discomfort.
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