Hi Jim 

Yea, we did our loft last spring and put in skylights above the landing area and over the shower in the bathroom. You can get self-cleaning glass. TBD how well that works. I know some people opt for opening skylights partly to be able to clean them. Not sure that'd work for the one over the shower. Not sure how we'd access it from the landing either to be honest. 

Heat can be an issue (I think that's another reason why some people go for openable skylights). It's a bit of a balance between more light and the loft basically becoming a greenhouse during the summer. It's great having the light flood down the staircase area. The bathroom skylight is probably overkill for us though because we also have a frosted regular window and that lets in plenty of light. The skylight glass is slightly tinted and has solar control, which is supposed to reduce the thermal gain. The increase in heat is definitely still noticeable in the summer though for sure.

Hope that helps

Alex

We're working at our loft conversion plan now. I was wondering the same things.

From what I've found out so far, there does seem to be that debate between more light v. greenhouse effect for skylights.

For the Velux, I spoke to someone recently who said they wished they did get the rain sensor / auto-close option for their Veluxes. They said that it's really easy to forget you've left them open and then the rain gets in and makes a mess of things. You're supposed to be able to have the Veluxes open slightly and for rain not to get in, but they also said that, if it's heavier rain, even when they've left them open only a little bit, they've found trickles of water getting in. 

Ruth