Solar Tubes

[Carols Clucks]

So......Any home made solar tube makers out there?

Not using the "R _ _ N _ _ _" word, but right about now a 1 gallon jar over the abandoned waterheater roof vent and a $6 light cover is sounding good. (low pitched shed roof at this point on the house and only 12" to the ceiling in the room below)

Anyone else have a "creative" aka cheap idea?

 

[KristyHall]

Quote:
i have no clue what you are talking about

 

[piecemaker]

me either please exlpian

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

<-------------- Lost

 

[pdsavage]

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words....Hint hint....

 

[Carols Clucks]

You all don't have solar tubes?

They are a plastic dome that goes on your roof with a highly reflective tube that runs through the attic down to a room below. There is some kind of cover, usually a semi transparent round disc. It allows the natural sunlight to light your rooms with out using power.

a Home Depot Velux example http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

I have a hole in the ceiling and above it by about 12" the exit with collar on the roof. I have to either cover the whole mess (remove the roof vent and patch the roof and fix the ceiling in the room below) or figure out a way to make it an "asset"

 

[AKsmama]

We have two- one in a sitting area near our fireplace and one in the kitchen. The one near the fireplace was installed by the company called SolaTube, and did develop a small leak but my husband fixed that. The one in the kitchen he bought at Home Depot or Lowe's and installed himself. We love them, they provide a lot of extra light and we almost never have to turn on the kitchen light during the day.

ETA: pic, and you asked about cheap alternatives- nope, don't know of any, but you could always try your idea.

 

[homesteadmomma]

So I'm sitting here thinking about what you could possibly do here, and I've never seen the inside of one of these tubes, but as a start, I would imagine that some type of shiny sheet metal or stove/exhaust pipe would be a great start. You should be able to get elbows to work. Could they possibly have mirrors inside? I'm thinking like a periscope that we made as kids. Then you would need a collar to stick under roofing that you should be able to get at any hardware store. The top could be, well, I have no idea....you might have to experiment and find something that is the same size as the tube. Angles should reflect more light. Then silicone it all together to make sure you have no leaks, although stovepipe shouldn't leak if it's tight and lapped correctly....

You might want to completely ignore this idea, as we have lots of R**N*** rigs around here and some don't work the way I thought they would

 

[Carols Clucks]

I think it will be:

1 gallon jar on the roof with some of the henry's from the garage (dad had a stock pile so hoping some where in that 5 gal bucket some is not hard)

1 drier flex pipe

1 ceiling fixture cover (I think I have one already)


And I will have one might fine solar tube....lol

At worst...it is better than a hole in the roof