Natural light for internal room with no windows - unused chimney

Rowley Birkin QC · 26-04-2018 04:11PM #1

Hi all, bought a house a few years back. It's a mid terrace, detached on one side with an alley between us and the next house.

The ground floor is open plan kitchen and living area with a flat roofed extension to the back of the house. This is the kitchen area and has a large velux roof light. There's a courtyard at the rear with large windows which allows light into the kitchen area.

Unfortunately very little natural light gets into the living part of the space as there are no windows on the external wall and another room to the front of the house so there's an internal wall.

There is a disused chimney breast in the corner of this room (shown with the red triangle below), currently covered over with plasterboard. I've been thinking about ways to get natural light into the room and I'm wondering if there's a way to use the chimney?

Maybe a long slim window running the height of the house so that it catches the upstairs bedroom too?

Or a light tube / funnel type thing.

Thoughts?

landcrzr · 26-04-2018 09:48PM

There is a product called solatube but I've never used it and I wouldn't be too sure it would work down a chimney. Google it to see.

Metric Tensor · 26-04-2018 10:19PM

Is the wall behind the couch the one that makes the side of the passage? If so (subject to planning and good neighbourly relations) you could put windows upstairs and downstairs in obscured glass, like a bathroom. It wouldn't let in that much light but might give the daylight "feel"

If you have more money something could be done with installing double height glazing and linking it with a roof window to gift a light "shaft" where the chimney used to be. It would be tricky to get the shaft feeding both rooms whilst maintaining the separation. It would also be quite expensive!

Rowley Birkin QC · 26-04-2018 10:45PM

Yes, wall behind the couch backs on to the space between the houses.

Sausage dog · 27-04-2018 09:29AM

Would glass in the door make a difference?

tabby aspreme · 27-04-2018 09:36AM

Put glass blocks high up on the wall behind the couch

twowheelsonly · 27-04-2018 09:45AM

Solatube is probably the job for this but Dermot Bannon used some variation of it on a recent show where a dummy window actually gave a view of the sky where there was a blank wall !! Looked very impressive. I have no idea what it was called though.

Metric Tensor · 27-04-2018 11:26AM

I know the following is going totally the opposite direction from what you asked but it could be a cheap solution that might help until the construction works are done:

If you install colour changing LEDs (Philips HUE or similar) in those recessed light fittings they could be programmed to give off natural/daylight colours during the day switching to more yellow "artificial" light in the evening times.

Rowley Birkin QC · 27-04-2018 12:45PM

Metric Tensor wrote: »

I know the following is going totally the opposite direction from what you asked but it could be a cheap solution that might help until the construction works are done:

If you install colour changing LEDs (Philips HUE or similar) in those recessed light fittings they could be programmed to give off natural/daylight colours during the day switching to more yellow "artificial" light in the evening times.

Whole house is actually kitted out with HUE, along with an Philips Ambilight TV that connects to HUE. I went a bit mad

It's good but I still miss that natural light coming through.

Some good suggestions in the thread, thanks!

sydthebeat · 27-04-2018 01:04PM

removing the chimney and boxing it down as a light shaft would be Über sexy !!!!

Rowley Birkin QC · 27-04-2018 02:07PM

sydthebeat wrote: »

removing the chimney and boxing it down as a light shaft would be Über sexy !!!!

That would be the grand designs plan alright!

It's a small house so doing something like that would (potentially) bring natural light into 3 / 6 rooms.

Lumen · 27-04-2018 10:49PM

I don't think a light tube is going to work when next to a well lit area.

How about a clerestory window to bring light from the front?

Natural light for internal room with no windows - unused chimney

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