Flat Roof Window Buying Guide
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Sterlingbuild - Buying Guides
- 19 Feb 2018
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- Reading time: 7 minutes
Flat Roof Window Buying Guide
Choosing the right roof windows for your flat roof extension can enhance your new space no end as the natural light that funnels in from the window opens the room up, creating a fresher and healthier living environment.
Our flat roof window guide will help you decide which type of rooflight is best suited to your needs and will explain everything you need to know regarding glazing, operating methods and energy efficiency.
Rooflights for flat roofs
What is the best kind of rooflight for my room? There's a balance between visual appeal and choosing the right material for the job. We're here to help you choose.
Flat glass rooflight
Flat glass rooflights are one of the most popular flat roof windows on the market. An ultra-modern design mixes style with efficiency, meaning you can give your home that wow factor while saving on energy bills and enjoying comfortable levels of insulation.
Known for
their brilliant energy performance, ECO+ have flat glass rooflights that come with built-in LED lights, available in a host of colours to fit any theme.
The VELUX Group's curved glass rooflight would be a showpiece item in any room, while also lowering maintenance needs with its curved top providing natural drainage.
RoofLITE+ also have excellent flat roof window options, with their fixed (FRF) and electric (FRF) offerings both capable of flooding your property with natural light.
Available from the VELUX Group, ECO+, REAL,
FAKRO, RoofLITE+
and Signature.
Flat glass domed rooflight
For long a popular choice on both residential and commercial roofs,
flat glass domed rooflights are made using at least two layers of glass covered by a single skin dome, formed in a high insulation PVC frame.
The substantial list
of benefits of
flat glass domed windows include; reduced maintenance,
high
energy efficiency and
effective sound insulation. FAKRO offers a quadruple-glazed rooflight
for additional sound insulation and even greater energy efficiency.
The window is suitable for installing on roof pitches between 0° and 15° and comes in fixed, manual and electric
operating styles.Available from the VELUX Group, FAKRO and Sterlingbuild.
Lanterns
Contemporary roof lanterns consist of glazing pieces separated by aluminium trims that meet in the middle to form a pitch. The stunning views they offer of the sky above are sure to astound
all that look
through.
Lantern rooflights have the much-desired effect of making your room appear bigger due to the impression given of a higher ceiling. They
come in a number of different pre-set sizes but can also be made bespoke to fit flush with any design.
Lanterns
come in fixed, and
manual
operating styles and are available
in double glazing as standard, with triple glazing alternatives available for added energy efficiency and noise insulation.
Available from Korniche,
REAL
and Wendland.
Walk-on rooflights
Manufactured using a one-piece stainless steel design, walk-on rooflights are an extremely popular choice for basement conversions
as they are a
practical solution to introducing natural light into areas that the sun struggles to reach.
Walk-on rooflights are made to withstand a great deal of weight and feature an enhanced grip and safety coating that prevents slipping in wet conditions.
The rooflights are available in all levels of glazing while the exact dimensions of the window can be made to order
so to fit your designs.
Available from
FAKRO
and Signature.
Polycarbonate domes
Polycarbonate domes are the most
affordable flat roof window option and are ideal for outbuildings and large commercial developments. Despite their cheap price, roof domes offer a number of benefits to your home.
With an impact strength that is up to 250 times greater than that of glass, polycarbonate is as close to unbreakable as you can get with a roof window.
Good quality polycarbonate domes with a UV-absorbing surface layer should be resistant to discoloration at the same time as maintaining light transmission.
Available in all four
thickness levels,
in
circular
or
pyramid design.
How would you like your window to operate?
Fixed/non-opening
Non-opening/fixed rooflights are
a smart option to save
a lot of money when ventilation is already provided from other sources. The perfect option of adding natural daylight to extensions and garden rooms.
lanterns, flat glass rooflights and polycarbonate domes, are available in a non-opening.
Manual
Manual flat roof windows are a very good choice for homeowners looking to ventilate their home. Offering the same levels of fresh air flow as electric rooflights, manual roof windows can be opened by hand or with an
opening rod.
Lanterns, flat glass rooflights, flat glass domed rooflights and polycarbonate domes are all available in manual.
Electric
The most contemporary and flexible way of opening a roof window. Controlled via a
wall switch,
remote control and even mobile phone, electric rooflights have become a popular choice for the modern homeowner.
Electric
operation is available for
flat glass rooflights, flat glass domed rooflights and polycarbonate domes.
Clear/neutral
The finish of choice for most flat roof windows, clear glazing
offers unobstructed views of the sky above.
Unlike clear glazing, neutral glazing is not fully clear as the protective coating on the glass produces a slight tint.
Neutral glazing is available on both Korniche and REAL lanterns,
while clear glazing can be applied to most of our flat roof windows.
Obscure
A sensible choice for bedrooms, bathrooms or anywhere else where your private space is important,
obscure glazing is designed to offer complete privacy and achieves this by making it impossible to see in or out of when closed.
Signature are specialists in obscure-glazed rooflights, offering a large range of sizes in fixed, manual and electric operating styles.
Blue tint
If you are worried about the effect of the sun on your new sofa, subtle blue tint glazing
can reduce harsh glare and protect furniture from fading.
The addition of a blue tint can also create a blue sky feel, perfect for fixed windows. REAL has a number of
lantern sizes
available with blue tint.
Bronze tint
The main purpose of bronze tint glazing is the same as
blue tint-
helping to reduce
glare from the sun and thus
protecting your furniture from fading.
Too much glare can also make pleasurable activities such as reading a book or watching TV harder to enjoy, a problem that bronze tinted lanterns offer the ideal solution to.
Which type of window glazing is best?
Double glazing
The industry standard. Two layers of glass separated by an inert glass for
improved energy efficiency. Double glazed rooflights can provide outstanding thermal performance when built in a thermally broken design with
low-E coating.
Triple glazing
Made with a third
pane of glass for superior insulation. The energy performance of a window
can be measured by its U-value. The
lower the value, the better the
insulator. FAKRO triple glazed flat glass rooflights come with a U-value of 0.88 W/m²K.
Quadruple glazing
A fourth layer of glass makes quadruple-glazed flat roof windows suitable for passivhaus projects.
FAKRO lead the way in this market with a range of eco friendly rooflights. The U-values on
FAKRO units go
as low as
0.58W/m²K.
Extras
Flat roof blinds
Blinds and shutters are the perfect way of controlling how much light enters the room. As well as this, they are an important part of your room's decor, adding a touch of colour and style to fit any theme or ambience.
We have a
selection of blind
styles and sizes for inside and outside of the window. Pleated, energy pleated, blackout and awning are just some of the flat roof blind designs we
feature in our comprehensive Blinds Buying Guide.
Operating accessories
It is important to consider what accessories you might need to pick up along with your flat roof window. Some, such as an opening rod, can be essential if your manual flat roof window has been installed out of arm's reach.
If you really like the look of a certain FAKRO pitched roof window
but you need a window for a flat roof,
installing pitched on flat is no longer a problem with
FAKRO’s roof kerbs and EFR flat roof gable system.
