Project: 10" Solar Light Tube by Natural Light Energy Systems
Skill Level: Basic Carpentry Skills
Estimated Installation Time:2-3 hrs
Actual Installation Time: 4.5 hrs
Journaled By: Ron Stamets | July 10, 2009

All of the main living area of our ranch home has required the use of lighting to use it, even on the brightest of days. So electric lights have to be on during both the day and night. Since the home was built in the 70's, no consideration was given to energy use, since those were the days when total electric home rates were discounted and America was going to have an eternal source of cheap abundant electricity.

Needless to say, that hasn't been the case, and my wife and I were discussing the proposed new electric rate hikes in Pennsylvania, and the possibility of more painful hikes in rates via the proposed "cap and tax" legislation on the drawing boards. She had mentioned that she saw something called a "light tube" on one of the Home and Garden shows on tv, and that maybe that might be a way for us to conserve electric during the day.

So, being that I have done business with Bill Finch, I gave him a call and asked if he carried light tubes. He said he did and after going up into my sweltering attic and measuring the distance between the roof and the ceiling and assessing the pitch of my roof, we ordered our new Light Tube which arrived in about 3 days. As soon as the weather man assured me that we would have at least one day without rain, I scheduled the photographer so I could document my ignorance in order to help someone else from duplicating my stupidity.

The Package and Instructions

The box with all of the contents is easily carried by one person, even an older one like me. I use my belly as a ledge so I can keep one hand free in case I happen to be looking through the bottom of my by-focals and trip while walking.

I cannot stress the importance of reading through the instructions that come with this package enough.

This isn't like putting a nail in the wall to hang a picture frame. This is cutting holes in ceilings and roofs and if you screw up, things are going to get real messy, real fast.

So Find you a comfortable spot in the shade

Relax with a fresh cup of coffee and read the instructions COMPLETELY through until you are certain that you understand EVERYTHING.

One of my concerns was that I have a tile ceiling, which means that not only are joists running in one direction, but the furring strips that the ceiling tile is attached to also runs across the ceiling joists.

Then, after deciding where I could have the tube penetrate through to the ceiling, I also had to make certain that I would be able to make it between the roof rafters in a straight line.

(An offset tube is available, but I hadn't given thought to the idea that my joists and rafters might not line up).

As a side note, I often find that reading instruction manuals while sitting and drinking coffee induces a brief nap..

These Confused me a little (but that isn't too hard to do) until I could see that these illustrations were for an area where one might not be able to physically get into, such as a modular home or a truss roof home.

I Personally would like to see a template such as Smiley Circle in the package, and you will see why in the next segment when we go up into the sweltering hot attic to lay everything out.

When I install another of these I will make two smileys. One for the ceiling and one for the roof, which has to be 1" larger than the ceiling hole.

The nose of Smiley is the center point that we will be using to align everything.

There is just nothing like working in a 110 degree attic, so I suggest that you plan your work for the early morning, before the mid-day sun slow bakes your brain. Anyway, there you will see I put my Smiley template in exactly the spot where I need to create my hole in the living room ceiling. I drilled a 1/8" hole through the ceiling and stuck a nail through it so it protrudes through the ceiling below. That way I can easily find it.

On the right you can see that I have now placed the template for the roof opening against the bottom of the roof sheathing and centering it plumb with the nail that I inserted in the celing below.

This is going to tell you whether you have clearance to run the solar tube straight up, or if you are going to have to use an offset to center your opening between the roof rafters.

TIP: You can check to see if you need an offset BEFORE you order your solar tube. Simply drop your plumb line from the center between the roof rafters down to the ceiling. If you don't have the clearance you need, order an offset with your solar tube. (A 10" tube needs a little over 10" clearance on all sides. In my case I had to center between the furring strips too so when they were cut for the hole, enough material remained to hold the ceiling tiles.

*** Oh... If you are thinking about cutting or trimming a rafter to make the tube fit... Perish the thought. It is one you will live to regret.

Ok... Everything is set. While I held the template in place, where the roof opening has to be, I drilled right through the center of Smiley. This time I un-chucked the drill and left it sticking through the roof. Make sure that your drill bit is long enough to go through the roof and stick up above the shingles. That is how you are going to find where you need to put the opening when you are ready to do the outside cutting through the roof. If you don't want to leave your drill bit there, you can drive a nail up through the hole you drilled.

Marking & Cutting The Ceiling

Now that we have our center points identified with the nail down through the ceiling we can simply place Smiley on the ceiling with the nail through his center hole.

Trace the outline of Smiley on the ceiling with a magic marker. I know, real carpenters use pencils, but at my age, magic markers are easier to see, and the installed ring covers up everything anyway. OH YEH.... Don't forget to put some drop cloths over anything you don't want to end up cleaning yourself. I don't know about you, but my honey takes a very dim view of any extra cleaning I might add to her already busy schedule.

Put your safety goggles on because you are going to get a face full of sawdust and if you are cutting sheet rock or some other materials, it would be a very good idea to wear a respirator or dust mask.

Attic ceiling crud doesn't taste good either. It has all kinds of vile things in it like mouse doo doo, wasp wings and dead flies.

Ok... Got that hole done, Let's go do some outside work.

Up On The Roof

I opted to get up on the roof, before installing the rings on the inside ceiling. That afforded me a little safety factor, just in case I had to do any extra adjusting. I never installed one of these before, so I wanted to leave my options open.

Remember, I un-chucked the drill bit when I drilled through the roof sheathing from inside the attic. Now, I simply brought Mr. Smiley up on the roof with me and placed him over the drill bit.

Since a pencil does not show up very well on asphalt or fiberglass shingles, it is easier to use the back side of the blade of your utility knife to scratch the surface of the shingles. Also, the instructions for this solar light tube tells us to make this opening an inch larger than the one we made for the ceiling inside the house.

Since I am using my trusty Sabre Saw, I will use a 3/8" drill bit to drill a starter hole at the inside edge of my opening circle. If you are using a Sabre Saw to cut yours, make sure that the blade is long enough to penetrate completely through the sheathing underneath the shingles.

Don't get scared when it looks like you missed the hole in the ceiling when you look down your nifty roof hole. The angle of the roof will make it appear that you have completely missed the plumb line, but it is fine.

That one fooled me too so I dropped my plumb bob down the hole and sure enough, everything lined up just fine. That extra inch width will allow you to adjust the flashing location when you get to that part.

Installing the Ceiling Ring

Attach the white horse hair gasket to the upper part of the ceiling ring (Part #11).

TIP: I found that the self stick gasket would not adhere to the metal. It seems to have an oily substance that prevented adhesion. I first tried hand wipes, but finally reverted to a clear PVC cleaner I had hanging around from an old plumbing job. After wiping the entire ring with a paper towel saturated with the pvc cleaner, the oily residue was removed and the gasket stuck to the metal just fine.

Since I was installing in a ceiling tile, I had to make certain that I was able to catch two of the furring strips with the installation screws, since I doubted the tile would hold the unit all by itself. This might also be true in the case of one installing one of these light tubes through a suspended ceiling where some sort of extra support might be advisable. Otherwise, simply using the speed nuts supplied would be just fine.

Installing The Flashing

Well, the weatherman said it would be nice all day, but... I had better move this project along because the sky is not looking so good at the moment.

Set the flange on the roof so that the top hole lines up with your opening in the roof, then use your trusty utility knife to scribe a mark all the way around the outside of the flange skirt.

The shingles are going to have to be carefully lifted up with a flat bar to release the sticky tabs, and any nails will need to be cut with a SAWZALL with a blade long enough to reach all of the nails. FOLLOW THE MANUFACTURER'S INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY or you will be making yourself more work than needed.

When using the SAWZALL, be sure to insert the blade UNDER the tar paper so it is directly against the sheathing. Be careful not to angle the blade up to avoid cutting back up through your shingles.... which would be bad. The trick is to sort of sweep the blade forward, fully under the shingles and then apply pressure when it stops against a nail.

Do this all the way from the Three O Clock position to the Nine O Clock position. Then put the slits in the shingles as shown in the manufacturers instructions.

I "Dry Fitted" everything before applying the caulking on the bottom of the Flange Skirt. That way I could make any needed adjustments without fear of smearing gooey silicone caulk all over myself and the roof. When everything fitted properly, I applied the caulk.

Remember, the flashing goes UNDER THE TAR PAPER AND THE SHINGLES. This assures that the same protection is afforded to the flashing as is provided for the roof. On the right I have installed the caulked flashing, but I have not yet screwed it. I first want to make sure that I can adjust it when I install the tube from it to the ring in the ceiling below. I have also left the shingles that are butted against it untrimmed. That will be one of the last steps in this installation.

Light Tube Assembly

Remove the plastic protection that is attached to the inside of the tube. This plastic film protects the super shiny surface during shipping and handling, but needs to be removed before using the tube.

You will notice that unlike regular stove pipe, the light tube has no flange to snap together. Instead, a strip of self stick adhesive and two screws are used to hold each tube together, along with supplied aluminum duct tape (which was not enough for the 4 lengths of tube in my package). If you are installing more than two tube lengths, go to your local Home Depot (no ad.... really!) and buy a small roll of aluminum duct tape. (Not regular duct tape).

Here is where I found things to get real tricky. Each tube has a very thin score line, about half an inch away from the edge, where the edge is supposed to be matched when squeezed together. I matched the score exactly, but suggest letting it just cover the score. When I installed the tube in the ceiling ring, it was just too tight to pass through the white horse hair gasket. (I am thinking, on my next installation, of not installing the ceiling ring and top flashing first, but instead, putting the gaskets on both and assembling the tubes first, using those parts for fitting purposes).

So. Make life easier for yourself. However you use those score marks, make certain that ALL of the tubes are put together at the exact same point on the score, or your tubes won't fit inside of each other without a lot of squeezing and cussing. The tape won't hold everything for very long so make sure you quickly screw each end and apply the metal duct tape to avoid having the tube pop apart. On one tube, the photographer had to hold one end while I screwed because it just wasn't sticking where it was put.

All of the seams of the fully assembled sections are now taped and on their way up the ladder to be sent down the top flashing to the ceiling ring below. If you haven't yet installed the black horse hair flashing in the top rim of the flashing, now would be the time to do it. You will also need to clean the area with the PVC cleaner to be sure the gasket sticks.

As you can see on the right, carefully work the bottom of the pipe through the gasket so you don't dislodge it. Allow it to carefully penetrate through the attic until it rests on the ceiling flange.

TIP: You might consider putting something against the bottom of the ceiling flange to prevent the tube from falling through when you let go. That didn't happen to me, but after I had gotten it through the ceiling fan, a second person had to prevent it from dropping through to the floor until I fastened it at the roof. (Which I did first because I didn't know exactly where the pipe was at the top of the flashing, til I went back up to check on it's position.

Here I am trying to get the tube past the white horse hair seal. Remember I mentioned how tight a fit it was? Well I ultimately opted to go up in the attic and foam the tube to prevent any dust from coming down, and had to take that seal out in order to enable the tube to drop to it's correct position.

Now we just need to jump back up on the roof and finish putting the cap on the flashing unit and install the prismatic diffuser.

And the completed results of the job after installing the white trim and prismatic diffuser. Now isn't that a far cry from when we started just a little while ago?

Conclusion

I think the installation went well and the instructions pretty straight forward. Some tools were needed, which may not be in a typical homeowner's toolbox, such as a Sawszall or a plumb bob, but a plumb bob is only a couple of bucks at a hardware store, and a Sawzall can be rented at almost any equipment rental shop for a reasonable price. Thus any Do It Yourselfer with basic tool experience should be able to accomplish an installation in an afternoon, though it is better to do it in the morning before the roof gets sweltering hot. I would suggest that home owners only attempt an installation on a "walkable" roof and leave the steeper pitches to the pros.

What I woud like to see shipped with the product.

• A ceiling and a roof opening template with a center mark for attics that may be 5 or 6ft above the ceiling.
• Enough tape for extra tubes ordered. I ordered 4 tubes, but only had enough tape for the straight seams on 2 tubes.

What would I do differently?

• Assemble tubes first and fit to ceiling ring and flashing with the gaskets installed to assure the correct fit when running tube down from the top.
• Clean the flashing with PVC cleaner to remove all oily surfaces and spray paint flat black or other color before installing.
• I would start earlier in the morning, but the photographer needed the mid-day light.

Product Rating: My initial rating on this product is excellent. It has accomplished everything I had hoped for and will be installing more units in the near future.