Natural light is hard to beat. Sunlight has a warmth all its own which is absent in artificial lighting. You will also benefit from lowered electricity bills for daytime lighting. Looking beyond, you’ll be contributing to environmental protection by lowering demand for electricity from thermal and nuclear power plants. The best way to avail yourself of some free sunlight is to install skylights. Traditional glass skylights are liable to breakage. Nowadays polycarbonate sheeting is a viable alternative to glass for use as glazing for skylights.

Polycarbonate is a tough new plastic material which outperforms glass in all departments. It is virtually unbreakable, very light and comes in all colors and translucencies. It is able to tolerate high temperatures, so it can be used in very hot climates too. Therefore it is a good idea to install polycarbonate skylights for your house instead of glass skylights.

In other respects polycarbonate is just like glass. It allows all types of light to pass through, according to its translucence. Skylight plc can be coated with special films to cut out harmful ultraviolet light as protection against skin cancers. In other words, plc is synonymous with unbreakable glass.

Select the plc for the skylights according to how much light you want to allow into your house. The standard variety is 100% transparent. The opal lens coating variety cuts out 10% of the light, providing an even spread of diffused light in the lighted area. This coating is best suited for areas where you want a lot of light but you not the glare.

The bronze filter coating keeps out almost 60% of the light. This is suitable for gentle lighting. Filter films are available for all translucencies between these two extremes.

Natural sunlight is beneficial to health, so say the medical experts. People who experience extreme mood swings will benefit from the exposure to sunlight. Dreary winter days give one the blues, and I’m no exception. Psychologists say that sunlight can banish those blues right away. Now there’s one more reason to install skylights.

You wouldn’t want to install the polycarbonate skylights yourself. Get a professional contractor to do the job for you. This applies to all variety of skylights, not just the polycarbonate ones! The professional knows just how to fit and seal the skylights. Any looseness in the fit or the sealing leads to extra cooling in summer and extra heating in winter. That negates the whole purpose of installing polycarbonate skylights.

Since this is a critical aspect of installation, make sure that your contractor is competent to do the job properly. Check out his work record before entrusting him with the installation. Once the polycarbonate skylights are properly installed you can look forward to years and years of maintenance-free, charge-free sunlight. All together now, begin! ‘You are my sunshine! My only sunshine! You make me happy …!