Extra Natural Light

prospect

Hi,

I want to get some extra natural light into my living room. There is a large South/SouthWest facing external wall, but due to planning reasons I cannot have windows in it.

I was wondering if there is a wall mounted version of those light dome things you sometimes see fitted into roof's?

Does anybody know if such a product exists?

antoinolachtnai

For sure you could put a light tunnel through, which I think is what you are referring to but really all it is is a window with a diffuser on the outside. You could also put a skylight on there, but it's really just a window. It could be pretty ugly too.

You could put some high level windows in it, about 7ft up, and you could obscure these if necessary.

You could also arrange the windows so that they allow light in from above, but do not afford a view. This has the advantage of looking almost like a plain wall from outside, if nicely done.

A glass brick wall could also be a possibility.

It is possible to get these things through planning. A trip to a planning consultant and some negotiation with the neighbout is probably in order before you spend any construction money.

paddy147

would a dome light tunnel or skylight not require planning permission though,as you are altering the structure and appearance of the external wall????

prospect

Thanks for the replies guys,

'Anto' could you explain more about this:
"You could also arrange the windows so that they allow light in from above, but do not afford a view."
I am not sure I fully understand.


Paddy, I am not sure about PP, I have installed 40 solar tubes a sky dish and a WiMax receiver on the same external wall/roof, none of which required PP.

antoinolachtnai

I mean that you can point the lights upwards at say a 45 degree angle. Obviously this means that you have to hang it out from the wall and put a slope on the wall. I can't easily find an example but I will do a sketch if you don't see what I mean.

I would be very careful about planning in this situation. As soon as you open the wall, the neighbors are likely to raise an issue and since there is a condition in the planning and since the development is quite close to their boundary (I am guessing). It could create quite an unpleasant situation.

North West

Hi Prospect
You could put in glass blocks at high level in room. I do not know if they could be classed as a window !!!!!!!!. Check it out ??
North West