Let There Be Light

Since we’ve been mooching off of Tom’s parents for nearly 2 months, we decided we should do a little sumpthin-sumpthin to repay them.

The existing stove vent.

So, we tore out a non-functioning gas stove in the family room and installed a solar tube.  What is a solar tube, you ask?  For the environmentally uneducated, let me esplain.

Demo of an asphalt roof is the opposite of fun.  Having bits of asphalt explode into your eyes is the (opposite of fun)^2.

Basically, you punch a hole in your roof, punch a hole in your ceiling, run a reflective metal pipe between the holes and you have yourself a solar tube.  They bring in lovely amounts of natural light and can be installed in a day.

Here, the new flashing is installed.  The roof area to be patched is huge because the flashing piece for the stove was enormous.

We bought our sweet daylighting system from Solatube – pretty much because they were the first company to show up on a Google search and they have a distributor in Tucson.  The 10” model we purchased was $325 ($350 w/ tax).  Did you just make a scrunchy face and think, “that’s kinda pricey” ???  Well, in the spirit of every infomercial ever made --  BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE…

Sorting through parts on the roof.  I’m starting to notice that I generally looked confused in photos these days.

If you act in 2010, you federal government will give you a tax credit of 30% of the cost of the materials.  That’s nearly $100 off!  AND, your state government might have credits as well!!  AZ will give you another incredible 25% off the INSTALLED cost. 

Tube installed and roof patched.  The plastic dome has a little reflector inside that points south to bring in the most light possible.  We are “cautiously optimistic” that our roof patch won’t leak – much.

The company we bought the tube from would have charged $500 to install it for us.  With tax credits, the final bill would have been $275.  Plus, I just found the same model online for $279, so I guess we could have saved another $50 by comparative shopping. 

Interior shot before the Solatube was installed.

Interior shot with the Solatube installed – this was taken at 10am, so the ambient light hasn’t even peaked yet.

And I say unto you, let there be light.

We’re very happy with how this product performs and the relative ease of installation.  I’m not sure the photos really demonstrate how well it lights up a previously dark corner in the room.  When we have a house again, we plan to install several of these – kitchen, bathrooms, & dark hallways will be the likely candidates.

Let us know if you have any questions.

-Jessie