No, mine don't "feel"like sunlight. Nor fluorescent. They just brighten up the space and sort of glow.

Here's a quick snap of my xl ones. I have two small in the hall to the bedrooms.
We also had one installed about 18 mo ago in the shower/tub ceiling at my mom's. It is like sunlight on steroids in the bathroom over there. Lol.

When we redo the roof, it's at half it's lifetime, so not for 12-15 years, I'll have some put in the kitchen here too.

Hydragea, that is an excellent question, one I've had myself. My interior designer has been excellent and very practical in working with her. However, she has strongly advised against using solar tubes. I believe her objection was that they have an odd appearance in the ceiling. Never having seen one in real life, I have no personal opinion. However, all the GW feedback seems to be quite positive in their favor. It will be interesting to follow this thread and to someday see one for myself.

We replaced a skylight in our bedroom with a solar tube with the Daylight Dimmer integrated shutter. (I just don't know why the previous owners put a skylight in the bedroom...it's great if you want to wake up at 5 in the summer, and be awakened by heavy rain drumming on the skylight in the winter...)

The solar tube is a huge upgrade over the skylight. The light doesn't "feel" like sunlight in the sense that it's warm on your skin, but I think the color temperature / light quality is like daylight. I.e., it's as good for reading as the light from a skylight or window would be.

texas, well, they do look like portholes into the afterlife.
However, I thought if I restricted them to the kitchen area, which is sort of a more utilitarian area, they might look ok.

lol Hydragea, love that comparison: portholes into the afterlife

I've had one in the corner of my windowless hallway for close to 15 years. Depending on the time of day, I still sometimes think I've left a light on. It's not like a window or a skylight, but the color seems correct. At the current time, the temperature of the light from mine seems the same as that coming in from a south-facing window in the bathroom.

It works great in my hallway. I'm not convinced it's a great look in all rooms. A friend of mine has about 8 of them and they can look a little goofy. I considered putting a couple in my living room, but I have a pitched ceiling (cathedral I think) and they would have been more prominent. If you don't like the look of can lights, then sola-tubes might not be for you.

Don't get me wrong, I love mine. It's perfect for my hallway. Just think about if you will like the look of them.

I am considering these in my current interior kitchen. I've had them before. However........

In Arizona, I had one in a 5x8 bathroom and in a 6x8 laundry/pass-through from the garage. They were beyond wonderful. Highly recommended in that application. But....... these were small areas, 8' ceiling, with white walls and white fixtures! And yes, you did reach out to shut off the light when leaving the room, because it was like there was a large window with bright sunlight illuminating the area, while your brain told you NO, there were no windows. The light flooded these spaces.

Notice, in the photo attached, with mid-tone walls and greater open space, there is not the same effect I previously experienced. They look more like large, flush mounted ceiling fixtures. The walls remain shadowed. But, in an area lacking bright natural light... from cloudy day, lots of trees, distance from windows, etc, any additional light is appreciated.

This is my dilemma: My open interior kitchen is 18' from the closest windows (tall trees beyond), has a 10' ceiling and very dark stained cabinets. I worry that a Solatube or two will simply direct light onto my dark-stained hardwood floor, and not create the bright, sunny area from my past experience. I feel the high ceiling will disperse the light before reaching my counter-top work areas.

I have a 3-light pendant and UCL halogens now, rarely turning on the three ceiling cans. But, I constantly visualize the $$$ being spent on electricity, just because there is insufficient natural light available.

Yet, at $500-600 each for the smaller Solatube, I am thinking long and hard about the value vs electric savings. Not an easy decision.

We did our kitchen a little over a year ago and put a solatube right in the middle. It's an interior kitchen and the patio is enclosed and covered which really dilutes the light coming in from the sliding door. We LOVE it. We rarely have to turn on the light during the day and it does give off a lot of light throughout the kitchen and even a bit into the living room. I will say when it was first installed the light was very strong and harsh. We put in a clear pebbled filter the installer supplied and that softened the light nicely. We also could have used a 'warm' filter to make the light yellower but we didn't like that.

In my opinion the absolute best place for sola-tubes are directly above the showers or tubs.

My sister has them in that location. When I take a shower at her place in the mornings, I feel like I'm being baptized with the sun directly overhead.

Plus they provide tons of lumens for shaving.

I have one in the bathroom which I love. It made such a difference. I also have two in the living room that I hate and would rip out in a heartbeat. I think the difference is that the bathroom is small and it is basically overhead and you don't really notice it. The ones in the living room were installed in the middle of the room in a row. When you stand in the dining area and look into the living room it looks awful. I love the description of portholes into the afterlife. I call mine spaceships. They glow. I think if they weren't in the middle of the room I wouldn't mind it. I hated them as soon as they were put in and still hate them.

Hi TexasPenny - Why didn't you like the yellow filter?
Why did you prefer the pebble filter?

I see that the light from your tube is much whiter than the light of the pots.

I find the different coloured light from the post vs. solartubes a bit off, but I'm thinking that they would never typically be 'on' at the same time.

Linelle - My kitchen is a galley---open to the dining room mind you. Seems to me that you could put two or three in a row in a galley and have it look ok. I saw a pic in Houzz where they'd created a little recess in the ceiling where the portholes went, so you couldn't see them unless you were directly under them. Sounds like all the drywalling might get expensive though.

Kitykat - Your picture wasn't attached. All of your questions are ones I have too. I hope somebody answers. My only contribution would be this: it seems to me like a lot of light would be reflected off a light countertop (not just floors/cabs). Do you have a light counter?

Hydragea, I wonder if kitykat is referring to my photo?

I think a solartube would work fine in a galley kitchen as they seem to do better in smaller, more defined spaces. My next door neighbors have a kitchen the size of mine (10x10) with a solartube with built-in light. I cat-sit when they are away and am always thinking I left the kitchen light on. :)

I think whether or not you like the look totally depends on the space. I'm so glad I decided not to put them in my living room where I needed more light. I went with an operable skylight instead. I'm not thrilled with its look either, but at least I can see the real sky. I'm not a fan of overhead lights, period. But in some rooms--hallways, utility rooms--they're what work.

Attached is a photo I just took. It's 8 a.m. and a very gray drizzly dreary morning. No lights on anywhere. Window in the bathroom straight ahead and solartube. Check out the reflections on the floor. The camera has boosted the overall light, but you get the idea.

In the hallway (galley-ish) with 9 ft. ceilings, it's amazing and I love it. Much better than the God-awful 1991 ceiling fixture I have yet to change out because of fear of electricity.

I have one at the end of my dark hallway too and I agree with most of the people above that they are not exactly like fluorescent, nor are they like incandescent.

I do not like the way it looks and giggle at the comment "potholes to the afterlife". Haha. I wish they made some kind of cover for them that looked more like a light fixture so that the light seems more understandable. Right now that round hole with light emanating from it in the middle of the hall, looks goofy to me. However, I do agree that it creates a vast amount of light for such a small thing--it does what it claims to do--bring light to unlit places.

I love these things! Two in my bathroom (it transformed a small room that could have passed for a darkroom) into an absolutely delightful area. I also have one in a dark hall and one over my stairwell plus 2 in my galley kitchen. I lined them up with the recessed lighting and they aren't noticeable at all, except when you need to "turn them off"! As the others have stated, there are filters that you can put over them, but I appreciate the natural bright light that I don't have to pay for like I do the electric ones. And, IMHO, recessed lighting is just a round hole with light emanating from it, too!

It seems like you could frame them out or put something decorative around them or even a shade that would go around it to make it look like a light fixture.

To answer your question...the yellow filter made the light REALLY yellow. The pebble filter just diffused it a bit. As for making it look prettier, my installer had several options we could have chosen as a fixture but we wanted something flat and simple. I know the picture makes them look like different temperatures, but it really doesn't make a difference in real life (and my husband is REALLY picky about color temperature!!)

Here is a link that might be useful: Decorative Fixtures

Whatever you do, don't get the prism kind. My friend has them and it's not a good look.

re: husband is REALLY picky about color temperature!

lol! It's funny what husbands are picky about!
(I'm actually picky about this too. Can't stand led's, no matter how warm they say they are.)

Thanks for the tip about avoiding the prism kind, Linelle.

The light fixture option on their website looks promising.

We have 2...one in the laundry and one in the dressing area as both are interior spaces. I like them in those applications. But depending on where you live, they aren't always bright...like in the winter when the sun is low or when they are covered in snow...there is a tremendous difference in our area in the light they provide in late Dec vs late June.

If you are worried about electricity costs, switch out the halogens for LEDs and electricity use will be a fraction of halogens. And you can buy a lot of LEDs for the price of a solatube.