Last Saturday we looked at corner and regular windows, both designed to maximise your view. Today, we are going to look at the difference between a skylight and a clerestory window and it’s all about how these types of windows capture light and bring it deep into your home. Combining windows that maximize light with the right windows to maximize your view will add the wow factor to any new home.
The first thing to consider is that every building depends on both sunlight and light from the sky – not necessarily the same thing, and light from the sky is particularly important when you live in a less sunny climatic zone.
Just so you know, clerestory windows are basically windows that sit above eye level in the wall, like in our feature image above, and they capture light from the horizon of the sky. In sunny climatic zones, the horizon offers 3 times more daylight, not counting the sun itself, making a clerestory window arrangement a more attractive option to consider.
Lying horizontally on your roof, skylights capture much more of the light from the zenith of the sky. In a cloudy sky, there is 3 times more daylight available from the zenith of the sky, making skylights a safe bet.
Skylight Windows
So, when you are thinking about the type of windows you want in your new home, you need to consider both light and views in order to make the best design decisions.