Light in the kitchen

Some while ago, Lindsey said that she had been talking to the Handyman at work and he had said that he had recently bought some solar skylights and was very pleased with them.

I had never heard of solar skylights!

I did a bit of investigating and, the next time I encountered the Handyman, I quizzed him carefully about them. Then I went to Bunnings and had a look at the various options. Then I thought about it for a while.

A fortnight or so ago I bought one, as an experiment, for the kitchen. I am aware that, no matter how sunny it is outside, if I am at home I always have the electric lights on in the kitchen. This seems quite wasteful if there is an alternative.

On Thursday an electrician came and installed it. He was here for less than half an hour. And I am very pleased with it. I rather wish I had bought a bigger one, but this certainly makes a difference. So much so that it makes the lounge and dining rooms look rather dim.

I intended to buy a couple for the hallway, which gets no natural light, if I was pleased with the experimental one in the kitchen. I am now also going to get one each for the dining and lounge rooms. The electrician says he will do a discount for bulk installations so I think I might buy one a month or so and call him back when I've bought all four.

Jim is a bit confused by the new light being called a "skylight". He spent quite some time looking up at it and then complained that it hadn't been properly installed because he couldn't see up through it. It is true that it is not a proper skylight. There is a small solar panel on the roof and then a cable running through the roof space to the transformer inside the light fitting. I have started calling it a solar light, which makes much more sense to him. 

You can get them with a battery for use in the evening as well as the daytime, plus there are some which can also be connected to the electricity supply. I decided that for now that was all a bit complicated. I'll look into alternatives down the track, when this one and its forthcoming companions need replacing