Maximise Daylight With Attic Windows

Fill your attic with an abundance of natural daylight and transform it into the brightest and healthiest

 

room in the home.

By Larry Bohan on 12 September 2018

More and more families are starting to reassess the current levels of natural daylight in their homes. This

 

heightened awareness to the importance of regular

 

sunlight exposure

 

has been driven in large part by

 

the hard-hitting the VELUX Group's Indoor Generation ad campaign.

The benefits of natural daylight and the dangers of a lack of it are now well documented. In short, insufficient

 

sunlight

 

can lead to tiredness, lack of productivity, illness and even depression.

Getting outside more often is the best and most obvious solution to this problem, and is easy and free to do. Many of us, however,

 

forget this when glued to

 

a TV series or

 

book, or constantly travelling from home to work to gym to the shops.

This is where your home can help you. Increasing the amount of natural light coming into a building can ensure those inside it benefit from the sun at all times.

Light bulbs have for too long been a poor substitute for

 

daylight. Not only do they not provide any of the natural goodness the sun does, they are also expensive, often unreliable and drive up bills.

Anybody with used/unused loft space

 

or a pitched ceiling with an outside wall are in the perfect position to implement healthy, long-lasting changes with the installation of an attic window or two. (Scroll down to skip to a list of our favourite attic windows)

Attic windows, installed at either eye level or higher up in a roof, are one of the most effective ways of filling a room with natural sunlight, being hugely beneficial to anybody living, working or sleeping below.

Not only do attic windows bring

 

superior health benefits thanks to an ability to transmit three

 

times as much sunlight as vertical windows, they can also enhance a room's

 

look

 

and performance in several other ways.

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The lighting supplied by a

 

well placed attic window can make a room feel more spacious, while also making it more energy efficient. Today’s best attic windows come with

 

an argon filled double or triple glazed unit that helps keep heat trapped inside the home

 

when it's cold outside. In the summer, low-E coated windows will help limit solar gain to help rooms stay cooler.

 

Attic windows should be for all-year-round living. Aside from welcoming in more light and improving thermal performance, attic windows can provide panomaric

 

views

 

when installed in the loft and remove steam and food

 

odours when installed

 

in a kitchen or dining room.

To help you find the right attic window, we have complied a short list of some of our favourite (and most popular) attic windows sorted by four important categories; price, insulation, views and maintenance.

We hope you enjoy reading our list. All of these attic windows are available for free next day delivery at the best price online thanks to the

 

Sterlingbuild price match promise.

Price

A cheap roof window does not have to mean a poorer window. Attic windows are available from industry leading names at prices more likely to keep you within budget.

RoofLITE pine centre pivot roof windows start

 

from just £83, with modern white paint CORE models starting at £110. Despite these affordable prices, RoofLITE windows can fill a room with just as much natural light as

 

competitor brands.

RoofLITE pine and white paint attic windows

 

carry a better than average U-value of 1.5 W/m²K that confirms strong thermal performance. A sound reduction rating of 32dB also guarantees that your RoofLITE window will help drown out unwanted noise from outside.

RoofLITE

 

create all of its attic windows with FSC certified,

 

rigorously tested pine.

 

These attic windows come in a slimline frame that minimises framework in order to maximise daylight.

Insulation

The energy efficiency of an attic window is best measured by its U-value. The lower the value, the more thermally efficient the window.

A U-value below 1 is particularly impressive and way ahead of average. With a U-value of 0.9, ECO+ pitched roof windows are thermally outstanding, yet still come at a

 

price that belies such strong spec.

ECO+ attic windows come with triple glazing as standard to ensure that all units

 

improve the energy efficiency of the room

 

they're going in.

 

All ECO+ centre pivot

 

windows also

 

have low-E coating treatment

 

to ensure rooms to do overheat during warmer months, along with lockable handle positions to provide ventilation.

The triple glazed unit of ECO+ units are argon filled to help keep warmth trapped inside a room and reduce condensation, features which when coupled with the windows’ PVC frame, makes it a smart choice for kitchens and bathrooms.

For Passivhaus projects, Sterlingbuild’s lowest U-values can be found on solar roof windows from the VELUX Group. Learn more about the power of solar windows here.

Views

Made up of the same spec as

 

ECO+ centre pivot windows (pictured), ECO+ top hung windows have the added benefit of being

 

fully openable to

 

provide unspoilt views.

Top hung attic windows have the capacity to bring even more natural light into

 

rooms, while

 

having greater ventilation capabilities too.

ECO+ top hung attic windows are ideal for eye level installation as the entirety of the sash exits the room to leave uninterrupted views for the lucky inhabitant when installed in the loft.

Although justifiably more expensive than

 

centre pivot roof

 

windows, top hung windows from ECO+ are perfect if you want to turn your loft into a room that is not only bright and well ventilated, but with views that make

 

everybody want to come up and enjoy.

For a completely unique attic window that can switch into a Juliet-style balcony in seconds, discover the VELUX CABRIO and FAKRO Galeria.

Maintenance

 

We could list ECO+ here for a third category running given its low maintenance PVC frame, or the economical RoofLITE PVC DURO window, but no list would be complete without a VELUX roof window on it.

The VELUX GGU roof window

 

has and

 

always will be one of Sterlingbuild’s most popular roof windows and for good reason.

The VELUX GGU roof window comes in a PU frame that is ideally designed for any rooms where steam and moisture are

 

prominent, namely

 

kitchens and

 

en-suite bathrooms.

Just like ECO+ windows, VELUX PU attic

 

windows have

 

a self-cleaning exterior glass that will help keep the external pane free of dirt.

If and when your VELUX roof window

 

does need cleaning, the glazing can be rotated 180 degrees to allow safe and comfortable maintenance to be carried out, with special VELUX maintenance kits

 

available for just the job.

As well as manual, the VELUX GGU roof window comes in electric and solar operation for the ultimate in convenience.

For help finding your perfect attic window or flat rooflight, try our window shopping tool to help narrow down your options.

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