Skylight Shade Installation in Vermont

Overhead glass, held in place against gravity

A skylight gains more heat in July and loses more in January than any other glass in the house, and it is the hardest to reach. Skylight shades run in a channel down each side so they stay where you put them instead of falling open. Most of the ones we install are in the ski houses around Killington, Warren and Stowe, and we measure and install them across Addison and Rutland counties from Middlebury.

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Which Skylight Shades Suit The Room

Most of this comes down to the room, the light and what the window has to do. Here is how we talk it through at the estimate.

Get A Price On Skylight Shades

We measure at your window and bring the samples to you. The estimate is free and there is no showroom to visit.

Why Skylights Get Their Own Product

A skylight shade is built differently from a window shade. It runs in an aluminum channel down each side of the opening so it holds its position on a sloped or horizontal plane instead of falling open under its own weight. The fabric is tensioned between the channels, which is also what keeps it from sagging in the middle over time.

Everything else follows from the angle and the height: cellular fabric because overhead glass is where heat moves fastest, a motor because you cannot reach it, and a solar charger because nothing in the house sees more sun. Hunter Douglas and Graber both make skylight shades, and we carry both.

Skylight Shade Or Nothing At All

The alternative to a skylight shade is leaving the skylight bare, which is what most people have done for years. If the skylight is over a hallway or a stairwell that no one sits under, bare is fine and we will tell you so. The room does not overheat and no one is trying to sleep there.

A shade is worth it over a bedroom, a home office, a kitchen that cooks in the afternoon, or any room with a screen in it. It is also worth it in winter on any skylight over a room you heat, because warm air rises straight to that glass and a cellular shade is the only thing between it and the sky.

How The Job Runs

We measure the opening, the pitch and the depth of the well. Skylights vary more than windows do, and the measure decides whether it is a pole, a motor or a fixed panel, and whether the shade mounts inside the well or on the ceiling below it.

Order and install take the same two to three weeks as the rest of our window coverings. Middlebury is home, and we cover Addison and Rutland counties and the ski country around Killington, Stowe and Warren, where the great rooms and the roof glass are.

What Skylight Shades Cost, And What Moves The Number

We quote after measuring. Size and pitch set the base, and whether it is motorized is the biggest swing after that. What moves the number:

• The size of the opening and its pitch
• Cellular for insulation or a lighter fabric for glare only
• Pole operation against a rechargeable or solar motor
• How many skylights you are covering in one order
• Access, since an install twelve feet up is a different day's work than one you can reach from a step
• Whether the shade mounts inside the well or below it

Skylights In A Vermont Winter And Summer

Overhead glass is where a house loses heat fastest. Warm air rises straight to it and there is nothing between the room and a single sheet of sky. A cellular skylight shade closed on a January night measurably slows that, and on a schedule it does so without anyone climbing on a chair.

In summer the same glass is the worst heat gain in the building, because it faces the sun more squarely than any wall window does. It is one of the few window coverings that pays for itself in both directions, which is why the ski houses with cathedral ceilings around Killington and Stowe are where most of ours go.

The Questions We Get Most

• How much do skylight shades cost?

  Size, pitch and reach decide the cost, so we quote after measuring. The number moves with the size of the opening, cellular against a lighter fabric, pole against motor, how many skylights you are doing, and how hard the install is to reach. The estimate is free and we come to you.

• Will a skylight shade stay up on a sloped window?

  Yes. It runs in a channel on each side rather than hanging free, and the fabric is tensioned between them, which is what stops gravity pulling it open. That is the main difference between a skylight shade and a normal one.

• Do skylight shades help with heat?

  Considerably, in both directions. Overhead glass takes the most direct sun in summer and loses heat fastest in winter. A cellular skylight shade traps still air against the glass the same way a cellular does on a wall, and on a skylight the effect is larger because that glass is the worst performer in the house.

• How do I operate one I cannot reach?

  Either an extension pole or a motor. On anything high we suggest the motor, because a pole is one more thing to fetch, and a shade that is a nuisance to move stops getting moved. Most of the skylights we do end up motorized.

• Rechargeable or solar for a skylight motor?

  Solar is worth considering here more than anywhere else, because a skylight gets more direct sun than any other glass in the house and the strip keeps the motor charged on its own. Rechargeable works fine too and charges from a cable a few times a year.

• How long does it take to get one installed?

  Two to three weeks on most products, counted from the day we measure. Shaped or unusually pitched openings can run a little longer. The person who measured does the install.

• Can you do a skylight that is not rectangular?

  Yes. Angled, trapezoid and shaped roof glass is normal work. The shade is built to the shape and the pitch we measure on site rather than trimmed to fit.

• Do I need blackout on a skylight?

  Only over a bedroom, or a room with a projector. Everywhere else a light-filtering cellular keeps the daylight the skylight was put there for while cutting the heat and glare. We bring both to the estimate.

• Are skylight shades covered by the lifetime warranty?

  Yes. Every window covering we sell carries a lifetime warranty, and a skylight shade is a window covering with side channels. The motor, where there is one, is part of the shade we supply.

What Customers Say

4.8 stars from 33 Google reviews