Bring the acrylic bubble skylight to the 21st century
Why you should upgrade your old skylights
We have a love-hate relationship with some things in life. Old acrylic skylights are one of them. We love the light, the dramatic effect and the openness they bring to our homes. However, we definitely don’t like the way they let heat or cold into our homes, the condensation that drips from them, the noise they let in or the way they leak air. So what to do and is there a better way?
The alternatives are to upgrade to a modern glass skylight or, just get rid of it. But getting rid of it will make the house dark and gloomy. So that is not a good idea.
A much better solution would be to replace the old skylight with a double pane Low-E glass skylight and blind. The double pane glass will greatly reduce the heat during our hot summer days. It is not uncommon for new skylights to reduce the heat in a room from 5 to 10 degrees, and even more. Low-E glass makes a huge difference by preventing fading of carpets and furniture. Another big advantage of Low- E glass is the reduction of noise in the home, compared with the noise that is made from rain hitting the older acrylic dome. Laminated Glass skylights are 25% quieter than regular glass and 50% quieter than acrylic domes.
A mostly unknown but important fact is that old acrylic skylights are not air tight, they let a lot of air flow into and out of the house. That air flow lets outside dust and pollution come in, which is not good.
So in order to stop all of these unfavorable issues we recommend replacing the older skylight with a modern insulated glass skylight. VELUX, one of the largest skylight manufacturers, makes many different types of glass skylights to replace old acrylic skylights. In addition to the extensive selection of skylights offered, they have a large selection of blinds. While the glass makes a big difference in reducing the heat that comes in, blinds can increase the energy efficiency of the skylights by about 30%.
It is no wonder many people are replacing acrylic skylights with energy efficient glass skylights. If you are replacing your windows, consider replacing those old skylights at the same time.