Do you know when the best time to replace your skylights is?
Regardless of whether your skylight shows signs of needing replacing (i.e., leaks, fogging), the best time to replace it is when you're replacing your roof. Here are the four main reasons why:
Save Time & Money in the Long Run
We get it: replacing your roof is already a big, expensive endeavor. If you only have to re-flash the skylight to satisfy your homeowner's insurance policy, wouldn't it be a better deal to wait until there's a reason to replace the skylight? Not exactly.
During a roof replacement, your roofers will remove the shingles around the skylight to re-flash and re-seal the window to the roof or curb, depending on installation type. While this is going on, the rest of the roof - including your skylight's frame - is jostled around under the wrenching, sawing, and hammering required to replace it. That takes a toll on your skylight frame and, ultimately, skylight. Nine times out of ten, a skylight that doesn't have any issues before a roof replacement will develop one if it's not replaced with the roof.
This is where that starts to really cost you. Since no other roof work is involved, you'll likely have to find someone new to replace your skylights, often at a higher rate. It will take time to get them out there, and they'll need to re-shingle around the skylight again, resulting in a mismatched roof.
Renew (and Coincide) your Warranty
VELUX's most common No Leak Warranty protects against leaks and other installation issues for 10 years, and skylights with certain features and glazing can have up to a 20 year warranty. In other words, the lifespan of a skylight is generally about the same lifespan as your roof.
Most homeowners who move into a house with a skylight don't realize it will eventually need to be replaced. Even some homeowners who installed skylights themselves in the mid-90s to early 2000s may not be aware of this. It's a common misconception for a good reason: you generally don't replace windows unless they're broken, and what is a skylight but a window on the roof?
The issue here is that roof locale. On the roof, a skylight is exposed to all of the elements. Wind, rain, sleet, snow, leaves, and other debris — all of it affects your skylight. And because nothing lasts forever, after a while, these things start to break down the skylight's sealants and flashing.
Replacing skylights when you re-roof allows you to renew your skylight's warranty and coincide it with your roof's warranty all at the same time. You'll also be upgrading to newer glazing, flashing, and sealants, extending the life of natural light in your home.
Improve Energy Efficiency
At VELUX, we're continually developing and testing our skylights to ensure we maintain our high standard of design. This means creating skylights that are as energy efficient as possible.
When you upgrade a skylight with a newer VELUX replacement, you're getting an upgrade in glass glazing technology. Our Clean, Quiet & Safe Glass with advanced LoE coating provides the best balance of daylight and heat control, greatly improving the energy efficiency of our skylights compared to earlier models.
With a newer model, you also have the option to include a solar-powered room-darkening or blackout blind. These along with VELUX ACTIVE with NETATMO, a skylight operation and automation system, can help create a healthier, more energy-efficient indoor air environment in your home through light control and natural ventilation.
Go Solar, Save Big
If you replace your old skylight with a new VELUX Solar Powered "Fresh Air" Skylight, you can incorporate natural ventilation into your home and incorporate a tax credit into your Roof-and-Skylight Replacement Budget.
When you install solar-electric property, like our solar-powered skylights, you can apply for a federal solar tax credit to get 26% of the costs of your skylight installation back. And to apply is simple: just fill out a Form 5695 when you file your taxes this year, and you'll receive a 26% federal tax credit. But only if you replace this year or next year. In 2023, the credit will go down to 22% before expiring altogether.
If you want to replace your skylights with a fixed or manual venting skylight, you can still Go Solar and get the tax credit by including a pre-installed solar-powered blind.
Bottom line: the best time to replace your skylights is when you're replacing your roof. It may seem like a lot to add on, but you'll save time and money while getting a better skylight overall.
