Perrysburg Roofing: Article About Choosing Skylights
The five ratings printed on a skylight's Energy Star label are U Factor, SHGC, Air Leakage, Visible Transmittance and Light to Solar Gain. These ratings are gathered from data recorded by an unbiased third party organization called the National Fenestration Rating Council.
FAQ for Perrysburg roofing company: What factors should be considered when choosing energy efficient skylights?Aside from the performance ratings on the Energy Star label, skylights' size and placement have the biggest influence on home energy efficiency. If they're too large, they will allow heat to escape in winter or enter in summer. The direction they face determines how much heat and light enter the home and at what time they're strongest. Skylights facing north allow in the most light with the least heat while other directions provide both heat and light.
One of the biggest new trends in home renovation is whole house systems design. This approach uses the energy performance characteristics of every system in a home, from the air conditioner to the skylights, to make energy bills as low as possible. Unlike earlier approaches to household energy planning, whole house systems design isn't as simple as choosing components with the best Energy Star ratings. These ratings play an important role, but an expert consultation is needed to answer questions about a system's installation and integration with the other systems.
A Perrysburg roofing specialist should be involved from the first stages of a home renovation to help homeowners plan where to install skylights and how big they should be. This information allows the HVAC contractor, interior designer and other professionals involved in the project to optimize their systems. The Energy Star ratings on skylights tell homeowners most of what they need to know about a product's energy performance, but making sense of the U Factor, Solar Heat Gain Coefficient and other ratings requires training.
In general, a low SHGC is best in hot climates where air conditioning bills are higher than heating bills. High SHGC means that a window traps solar radiation inside to make heating more efficient in winter. A low U Factor is always a good idea because it prevents heat from moving from a hot location to a cold location.
A roofer from Johnson roofing of Perrysburg OH would be happy to answer any questions you have about commercial roofing or roof repair.
When planning home energy efficiency, it's always best for heat to stay away from cold places, but warmth naturally transfers to cold places until all contiguous locations are the same temperature.
Of course, it's desirable for a cold home to be heated up by the heater, but it's not desirable for that warmth to be drawn to cold areas outside the home through walls, windows and skylights. In summer, it's inefficient for heat to be drawn to a home's air conditioned interior by conduction through window frames and glazing. Skylights can easily make a home more efficient to heat in the winter, but it takes great care to choose skylights that are efficient in the summer.
A trade off usually must be made between efficient heating in winter and cooling in summer because skylights that make heating less expensive tend to make cooling more expensive and vice versa. Naturally, the lowest Air Leakage rating is ideal because it minimizes the work that air conditioners and heaters do to regulate the temperature. After the best energy performance characteristics have been chosen, the skylights' optimal size and placement must be determined according to the home's location and number of existing windows.
