mjncad
Super Member
Anyone have any experience with this type of skylight?
Shop VELUX 47-1/4-in x 22-3/8-in x 3-3/8-in Tempered Skylight at Lowes.com
The few reviews on Lowe's website seem very positive.
Since I don't care for skylights as installation is the critical step that seems to make or break as to whether they will leak or not; but Velux always seems to crop up as the skylight of choice for those who want them.
Thinking about these for the basement and garage:
Shop Metalux 48-in Fluorescent Troffer at Lowes.com
Looks decent. Any reason not to go with those?
Troffer lights are generally used with drop-ceilings commonly found in offices; but they should work fine if you can screw them to the framing in the basement and/or garage. The big advantage to the lights you are looking at is the acrylic diffuser panel protects the bulbs from breakage. Otherwise good old fashioned "shop lights" should suffice.
Another point on garage lighting. I don't know if your mom has a car with a trunk or a hatchback, but this basically applies to both. The little lights that come on, on a double wide garage door opener are lousy. If she pulls in in the winter, shuts down the engine, and then closes the garage door, before getting out to get groceries or other packages from the trunk or hatchback, it is pretty dark back there.
I would suggest having a light/lights in the ceiling back near the garage door as well as in the front near the entrance to the mudroom and basement stairs.
You might even do a relay off the door opener that would energize a circuit to some of the lights to turn them on before she gets out of the car and stay latched after the remote times out, so the lights would stay on until until she turns the lights off with a push button or toggle switch by the mudroom door.
At the very least, have the electrician put a two way or three way, toggle on the wall right to the left of her driver door, so she can turn on some lights
w/o having to go to either end of the garage.
Ron
I like your thinking Ron. I have 4' fluorescent shop lights connected to our garage door openers. They are much better than the crappy 60w light bulbs that are common to garage door openers.