Often when you build an extension the new building robs some of the light from existing rooms or hallways. Electric light is an expensive way of lighting these areas and it is also a lower colour temperature than natural daylight which means it has an orange colour cast. You may be able to fit a new window or even borrow light from another room by putting a window above a door but the easiest solution is a natural light pipe or duct. There are a number of different products on the market that use flexible pipes to direct the light from the roof to the diffuser plate in the ceiling.
Suntile is different because it uses square ducting which you tape together on site. The square section gives more light than a tube and it also directs the light differently. Tubes, because they are concave mirrors, distort the light along its path. The inventor of Sun Tile worked on satellites for British Aerospace which is where he picked up his knowledge of how mirrors work. Be that as it may nobody can overcome physics which dictates the law of the inverse square. Put simply, this says that if you double the distance you quarter the intensity of light. The ideal setup is to keep the tube as straight and short as possible. |
