Planning The Perfect Kitchen Skylight Extension

Kitchen with wooden features and a skylight

A skylight kitchen extension can vastly improve the experience of living in your home. Not only do these fabulous extensions offer you a lot more room to cook, eat, and socialise, but they also have many other benefits such as increased natural light and better energy efficiency!

If you are planning on installing skylights in a kitchen extension, or if you’re curious about the idea, this guide is for you. Read on and let’s start making your home more beautiful.

Skylight kitchen extension benefits

Increase natural light

A kitchen skylight will add much more natural light to your kitchen than standard windows. Adding skylights to your new kitchen extension will not only let you enjoy the benefits of natural light while you cook. Natural light will also let you use less electricity, as you’re less likely to have to rely on artificial lighting.

Learn more about the benefits of natural light and how to increase natural light in a room.

Improve energy efficiency

Less reliance on artificial light has a key benefit: energy efficiency. Natural light is only one of the significant benefits offered by a skylight kitchen extension. As well as natural light, your home will also benefit from increased solar heating. As sunlight enters through your skylights, it will warm the room, keeping you warmer in winter. If you opt for an opening skylight, you can also benefit from increased cooling during summer.

Learn more about energy efficiency and rooflights.

They’re visually stunning

Finally, we have another point. Granted, it’s subjective, but we think that skylights look absolutely incredible in any room. Adding rooflights and skylights to a room adds a focal point for architectural interest, which makes it look much more appealing, not only great for you, but great for any prospective future buyers too. Increased natural light can also make your kitchen appear bigger, another aesthetic benefit.

Learn more about how to make a room look bigger and how rooflights can add value to your home.

Where should I install a kitchen skylight?

You may be wondering where you should install a kitchen skylight in your new extension. You should first consider where in a kitchen will benefit from natural light the most. Likely, this will be above counter tops, making the close work involved in cooking a lot easier.

However, there are other considerations that you’ll need to take into account. For example, the orientation of the skylight will affect when your skylight gets the most light, its size may require additional support that requires specific placement, and there may be one specific area you want to increase ventilation.

You should also consider your interior design plans. Do you have any specific area in mind for a skylight? Do you think that you could make your interior design plans work if it were in another place?

Choosing the right skylight for your kitchen extension

If you’re going to buy a skylight for a kitchen extension, you will need to consider a range of different criteria. What are your needs? Do you want your skylight to do anything specifically? You will also need to consider the different types of skylights that are on offer – would you prefer an opening skylight? What about a round skylight?

You will also need to take your budget into consideration, as skylights can range in price from hundreds to thousands of pounds. Finally, you should consider any extra features that you would like your skylight to have.

Flat or pitched skylight?

Flat roof skylights

Flat roof skylights are also known as rooflights or roof windows. You will need to purchase a flat roof skylight if the angle of your roof is very flat, but higher than five degrees. While this may sound like they’re not designed for flat roofs at all, they are – flat roofs are seldom completely flat, so your flat roof likely has a shallow angle of pitch.

Pitched roof skylights

Pitched roof skylights are likely more well-known. These skylights are designed to be fit on roofs with a pitch of between 15 and 50 degrees, but there are models that can be fitted to steeper roofs, too.

Skylight kitchen extension building regulations

When you install a skylight kitchen extension, it is very important to consider building regulations. While these may vary over time, at the time of writing, all skylights need to have a U-value of no more than 1.7W/m2K on a vertical plane and 2.2 W/m2K on a horizontal plane. If you’re confused about what a U-value is, don’t worry. It’s a measurement of energy efficiency, describing how energy efficient your skylight is. All skylights and roof windows sold by Toughened Glass Systems adhere to the latest building regulations.

What size rooflight to choose

The size of your kitchen rooflight will depend on a number of different factors. Firstly, there’s the budgetary need to take into account. Larger skylights are, as you would expect, more expensive than smaller skylights of the same range.

The size of your new kitchen extension will also dictate the size of the skylight, as will building regulations and other regulatory requirements. Your roof will also need to be able to support it, as safety will dictate the maximum skylight size you can add to your roof.

View our complete guide to skylight sizes.

How much will it cost?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. Your skylight itself will likely be the largest expense. If you choose to install it yourself, you can save quite a lot of money on the overall skylight cost, but if you’re unsure of how to install a skylight, we recommend speaking to a professional. In general, skylight installation requires two workers, coming to a day rate of around £300-500. Skylights will typically take one or two days to install, so labour costs will total around £500-1000.

View our complete guide to skylight costs.

More ways to increase light in a kitchen

If you aren’t set on a skylight but would like to increase natural light in a kitchen extension, there are other approaches to consider. Let’s have a closer look.

Glass ceilings

Glass ceilings are a fantastic way to make a room much brighter. Replacing the roof with glass allows the entire roof to capture natural light, but will be more expensive than a skylight. If you opt for walk-on rooflights, it will also not prevent roof access for cleaning and maintenance.

Floor to ceiling glass windows

Floor-to-ceiling glass windows are a great fixture, and almost as aesthetically pleasing as a skylight. These windows tend to be very expensive and require structural glass. You should also be careful with placement to ensure that they can get the highest amount of natural light possible.

Glass doors

Glass doors or French windows are another great option, albeit only if your kitchen has an exterior door. These fixtures, like floor-to-ceiling windows, allow for a great deal of natural light to enter your home, but they must also be placed with precision to ensure that they get the most natural light they can.

A brighter colour palette

While painting your kitchen with brighter colours won’t actually increase the amount of natural light in the room, it will make it look a lot brighter. Light colours are the order of the day here – think white, yellow or powder blue.

Will a kitchen skylight extension increase home value?

While many factors affect the value of your home, it’s likely that a well-placed and beautiful skylight will make your home more appealing to buyers. The benefits that come with skylights, such as increased natural light and energy efficiency, are likely to be very appealing to those looking for a future-proofed home.

Types of kitchen skylights

Flat Rooflight

A flat rooflight is a fantastic type of skylight for a kitchen. Boasting a seamless design that ensures protection from water ingress, it will add a lot of light to dark and enclosed spaces, perfect for a kitchen. Its flat design ensures its impact on your roof’s overall height and appearance is kept to a minimum.

Korniche Rooflight

For those who value a crisp and modern aesthetic, a Korniche rooflight will be perfect for you. With seamless looks and a design that makes it easy to replace, this skylight is a fantastic investment. It also meets PAS24 standards, meaning that it provides protection against security threats.

TGS Electric & Manual Opening Rooflights

If you would like to not only have a skylight that helps your kitchen’s airflow as well as natural light, our electric and manual opening rooflights are a great option. Boasting all the usual skylight benefits, combined with extra airflow, this is a superb choice for a kitchen. You can learn all about the differences between electric and manual opening skylights on our blog.

Roof Lanterns by Wendland

For the most possible natural light, a roof lantern is a fantastic choice. This roof lantern features a 20 degree pitch that allows light to flood into your kitchen. If you want a type of skylight that increases natural light in your kitchen as much as possible, consider this lantern from Wendland.

Coxdome Flat Glass Rooflight

Like our flat rooflights, this Coxdome flat glass rooflight offers a very crisp modern aesthetic. Boasting an uninterrupted glass surface, this skylight is framed in aluminium and a thermally broken upstand to prevent condensation buildup. If you would like to add a lot of light to your kitchen, without having to worry about condensation, the great thermal performance of this skylight is a fantastic choice.

Learn more about stopping condensation on roof lanterns in our guide.

Why choose Toughened Glass Systems?

At Toughened Glass Systems, we have many years of experience with all aspects of roof windows, rooflights and skylights. If you want to add a skylight kitchen extension to your home, we can help you every step of the way.

Whether you need help choosing a skylight, discussing the pros and cons of different models, or you have questions about skylights, we can help you. Contact us today and our expert team will be happy to help you with your questions.

We stock a wide range of rooflights and skylights, including:

Get yours today.

FAQs

Can you put a skylight in a kitchen?

Yes, installing a skylight in a kitchen is quite common and very effective. Adding a skylight to a kitchen will increase natural light and, depending on the model, airflow, making your kitchen a much more comfortable and pleasant place to be.

How much is a skylight extension?

While the cost of a skylight kitchen extension will depend on the scope of the extension, your skylights will likely cost hundreds or thousands of pounds each. Labour will likely cost from £300-500 per day, with each skylight installation taking one or two days, for a total of £500-1000 per skylight.

How much does a kitchen extension cost?

Kitchen extensions vary quite significantly in price depending on the size of the extension. For small extensions, you should expect to pay around £12,000 while larger or more fully-featured extensions may cost more than £100,000.

What is the best skylight for a kitchen?

The answer to this question will depend on your exact needs. A large skylight is best, as they add large amounts of light. You may also wish to consider a skylight with ventilation, or an opening skylight. Kitchens tend to suffer from condensation, so ensuring that you’ve got strong airflow is important for reducing condensation.

Planning the Perfect Kitchen Skylight Extension