At times, we may not want as much light flooding into the house — during high summer, for example. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to temper that flood of sunlight? Well, VELUX, the maker of Sun Tunnels, has a couple of options. There is a variable internal shade that can be installed, or a circular blind that can be added to the bottom of the diffuser, blocking out the light completely. There is also a nifty lighting kit that mounts inside the Sun Tunnel providing light at night or on dark days. We’re seriously thinking about replacing the hall light and just lighting up the Sun Tunnels at night instead.

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So, instead of running up the electric bill all summer long, we’ve now found a way to get plenty of light into the house in all seasons. This saves us power and lights up a formerly dark part of the house. Ours were pretty straight forward to install, but Sun Tunnels allow light paths around obstacles and corners, as well as really long runs so it’s possible to bring light into the basement from the roof. These are inherently energy efficient and very pleasant to look at. After all, what better light is there than sunlight?

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I was also very curious about “sun tunnels,” also known as “tubular skylights,” “light tubes,” or “sun pipes.” I’ve seen this type of skylight in other houses and they look very cool — lots of light without taking up much space. These are also some of the cheapest type of skylights to buy and install mainly because they can go just about anywhere.

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We put in two in the hallway, but we easily could have gotten away with one. The amount of light they provide is amazing, even on a dark day or at night. The plastic lens gathers a lot of light, even when the sun isn’t shining on it, and the mirrored tube that connects it to the diffuser inside gathers every beam of light coming in at an angle so there is even more light. The effect is a brilliant, clean white light during the day; a softer, paler glow if it’s overcast and if you live near a street light, it makes a wonderful nightlight.

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Tell us about your home improvement project; email Planning Editor Eva Abreu, EAbreu@GannettNJ.com.Prentiss Gray’s weekly column provides tips and advice on how to make your life better in Morris County. Read “DomestiTech” every Thursday in The Good Life.

I have shied away from skylights because of the reputation for leaking; however, that’s pretty much old news. Modern skylights, when installed properly, are the most water-resistant part of your roof. In the case of Sun Tunnels by VELUX, there is a special roof mount and flashing kit for every kind of roof. The flashing comes in a variety of forms. There is an angle mount, which holds the roof lens upright to gather the most light, a “flush mount” which keeps the roof lens at the same angle as the roof so the Sun Tunnel has a lower profile, and an “ultra-low profile” flashing kit that uses a flat plate of acrylic so the Sun Tunnel looks like a small regular skylight. The lower the profile, the less light the Sun Tunnel brings in. We went with the angle mount because we were much more interested in light than the appearance of the roof on the back of the house.

When the leaves go away in the fall, our house gets brighter. When the foliage returns in the spring and summer, we have to run the lights all the time, especially in the upstairs hallway and kitchen. Want to do the dishes? Better turn on the lights, even at noon — it’s too dark to see.

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I’ve been wanting to try this for 35 years: investing in a skylight. I thought, since we had to re-do the roof anyway, why not?

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Ever since we bought this house, we have been amazed at how dark it gets in the summer. It’s like a reverse seasonal affective disorder.

Sun tunnels mount flush with the interior ceiling but do stick up on the roof. Most use a half sphere plastic lens to gather light from the outside and a diffuser on the inside to bring it all into the house. You can also get a diffuser model that looks like a globe light on the ceiling for a kind of an old fashioned ceiling light effect. Either way, the interior installation looks pretty easy and really doesn’t require any repainting or a lot of spackling. We chose the flush mounts for the headroom and they seemed to go better in the hallway.

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