Remote Living > Lighting

Sky Lights & Fiber Optics

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OPEC BUSTER:
In a recent post someone had a problem making enough power for lighting. Now I've been reading this site for a few months and it appears we need to reduce all power consumption as a priority before power production! I have yet to read a discussion from you fine experts on the benifets of SKY lights. I have seen them installed in the home improvement shows and they appear to produce a lot more light than conventional lighting! They have flexible ducts that can direct the light to remote spaces. I also have heard about fiber optic lighting but I haven't seen any of these!

I know the fiber optics would have the benifet of eliminating heat gains and easy routing for installation!

I would like to hear your comments about this conservation topic!
Thanks to all!

Otis

Volvo farmer:
I've bought a couple of those tubular skylights for my new house, a 12" and a 8". I've got a room in the basement that I was unable to put any windows in so I'm running the big one in there. We had to build a chase to run the tube though the upper floor. I haven't quite got it insalled yet but I bet it will work fine and allow me to use that room in the day without flipping on a light. The smaller one goes in a windowless upstairs bathroom.
In a grid conected house, I'm not sure retrofitting one of these would make sense from a dollar point of view. Cutting holes in one's roof and ceiling can get challenging, the tubes cost over $100, and they don't work at night. But for my application, using them was a no-brainer.

GaryGary:
Hi,
There is a link to one the outfits that makes a system that uses a a tracking dish to collect light, and then transmits it through the building with fiber optics here:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Lighting/lighting.htm

(down the page a ways)
It looks like a very pricey system -- maybe someone knows of a simplier one?
Gary
www.BuilidItSolar.com

rotornuts:
Off the top of my head here in Canada I'm thinking it would be about $450.00 materials including cheap 2'x 4' sky light to install. I have no problem doing the install myself because I have experience with roofing, framing, drywall, etc but for those who do not they could possibly expect an additional $350.00 - $600.00 for installation.
I think most folks mills come in cheaper than that so over the short term generating more power seems cheaper.
A skylight is by far cheapest to do at the point of initial construction.
Sky lights are indeed a great addition to most spaces if you can fit it in(my storage shed has one as well as the kids playhouse)but it's not really cheap epecially if you have to hire out a retrofit. You'll also notice that some skylights come with shade kits to shade out the light in the summer so you don't bake the room.
Mike

pyrocasto:
That's a very nice setup though. The direct solar setups use a dish to track, put the light into fiber optics, and when it starts to get dark the lights slowly turn on keeping the same amount of light all day long if you want it.

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