We added one in our kitchen. We had added a deep porch that blocked all of the light. It was a great decision. We even had moonlight at night that was reflected into the kitchen.

One word of caution. They are not maintenance free. You will need to access the roof twice a year to check the caulking around the edges. If it's split, you will need to add more. Admittedly, we are the type of people who take maintenance seriously. But, it's easier to add some caulk than pay for a repair.

The only difference is, skylights can be open and provide ventilation, also you get the natural sunlight and you can see the sky.

With solar tube, you get filtered light and that is about it...Also depends on the type you get, some will filter out the heat and sunlight glare.

As the units itself go, solar tube is one piece so very unlikely it will ever leak or will need a repair if installed the right way, same with skylights installed correctly with curb flashing kit it will perform as it should, but if you have an operable skylight, you have moving parts and if it constantly used you you might need to replace the weather seal 10-20 years down the road.

I was also considering putting a solatube in the gas chamber of my bathroom, since due to bracing wall restrictions I was not allowed to have any windows on those walls. On a whim, I decided to see if a skylight would be possible and what the cost difference would be. It was actually alot less! With the solatube, you have to buy alot of parts - the thing that goes on the roof, the shaft, the thing on the ceiling, maybe a damper inside. With the skylight, you just buy the skylight. Everything else is just wood framing and drywall. So it was much more economical, and I got like a 22"x22" skylight in there.

You will need to access the roof twice a year to check the caulking around the edges.

I am confused at this statement. Our Solatube flashing is under the shakes. Are you saying you are removing shakes once a year to check the bond???? Do you do that for all the vents on your roof also? Was your tube installed without proper flashing?

My 2 kids' bathrooms are interior and each has a Solatube. They are nice and bright - so much so that on occasion a friend has asked how to turn off the light. I don't have any experience with a skylight for comparison, but I am happy with the Solatubes and glad we did them.

I'm confused too Watchme. I was told ours was basically maintenance-free....so now I'm wondering if we're not doing something we should?

I love our solar tube. It's in a second floor hallway without any natural light (interior hallway, no windows) and I love just how it floods the hallway with light.

I've had skylights in the past.

They each have their pros and cons. The solatube basically disappears into the ceiling - all you see is the trim kit against the white ceiling. But the nice thing about a skylight is that you can open it. And you can see sky through it, whereas the solatube is just a nice, bright, diffuse light.

I would have either again, I like them both....

But I sure hope someone can chime in about the alleged need to re-caulk them every year - all I see when I look up at mine is shingles. Any caulk or whatever is underneath the shingles and flashing in mine....

"...The tub / shower is against the exterior wall, plus that side of the house has no exterior windows..."

"...This is a new build, we are just to the point of getting the lot cleared, so we have some time to make this decision..."

Well...since you're working with an architect, and have plenty of time...why don't you and your architect work out a design with windows and natural light?

Why would you have an entire side of a house with no windows...are you so close to your neighbor's house that no openings are allowed?

What kind of lot is so full of trees that it needs extensive time spent clearing, and yet is so close to a neighbor that you don't want windows? You need to reassess the overall home design instead of attempting to put bandaids on a poor design.

We first installed a solatub in the late 1980s in a bathroom in my previous home. In the 15 years that we lived with it we never had to do any maintainance to the solatube in side or out on the roof. It never leaked. We loved how much it lit up the room. We didn't need to turn on lights in the bathroom during the day like we did before installing it.

When my daughter bought her house 8 years ago, we had a solatube installed in their windowless hall bathroom as a house warming gift. They love it. It even lets some light into their hallway. Their solatube has not leaked or required any maintainance at all. Last year the added a large solatube in their dark family room and also put one in another bathroom that lost its window due to an addition on the house.

Solatubes are definitely less expensive than a skylight for both the product itself and the install. I know that because we replaced 27 year old skylights in our current home when we reroofed 2 years ago. They never leaked but we replaced them just due to their age. The skylights were way more expensive than the solatubes my daughter just installed.

I suggest you go with the Solatube brand or the Velux brand rather than some lesser brand.

When we finished a previously unfinished side of our 2nd floor in our 1 1/2 story house, we included an ensuite bath. A dormer was not an option for light, so we did a skylight - it does NOT open. We have only had one problem in 33 years - violent storm in Nov, right at Thanksgiving, and our skylight blew off the roof. I don't think it was installed properly. We put in a new one and it's been fine. When I've had a new roof installed, I have asked them to check the flashing. The only downside is that when my daughter used this bedroom and when her sons now occasionally spend the night, they need to keep the door to the bath at least partially closed or they will be awakened in the morning by the early sunlight from the east!

DifferentDreamwr who did the install?