Electric lights are a major energy drain. Just count up all the light fixtures and lamps in your home, multiply by 100 watts (the most common incandescent bulb size) and you will realize how much electricity is used

Using compact fluorescent bulbs can reduce this electricity usage by 75 percent, but the total is still a significant number. Also, during summer, all the heat that light bulbs (any type) create must be removed by your air conditioner, so it is a double cost.

Installing a tubular skylight is a good way to brighten interior spaces and cut electric use. I installed a tubular skylight in my own garage, where I am building an all-electric car. It provides adequate light for working during the daytime. On a clear night with a full moon, my garage is bright enough to walk through without stumbling over car parts.

Most tubular skylight kits are designed similarly. A small tube, usually in the 9- to 21-inch-diameter range, runs from a hole in the roof to a hole in the ceiling below. The interior surface of the tube is highly reflective. Only a low percentage of its brightness is lost as the light reflects back and forth inside the tube as it travels down from the roof.

The roof end is covered by a clear bubble dome. This allows it to catch more light. Some tubular skylights use a prismatic dome designed to capture more of the sun’s lower rays, during morning and near evening, and direct them down into the tube. The lower end of the tube, which is flush with the room ceiling, is covered with a frosted diffuser cover so it looks like a recessed light.

A tubular skylight will not produce as much light as a large skylight and it obviously provides no attractive view of the sky. And, installing a skylight in a room with an attic above requires the construction of the lightwell from the ceiling to the roof. This often requires a professional installer.

Another advantage of a tubular skylight over a large standard skylight is energy efficiency. Even the best skylights, with efficient glass or triple-pane plastic, have a much lower insulation R-value than the roof. A tubular skylight requires only a small hole from the ceiling to the roof and the interior of the reflective tube is relatively airtight. It will lose much less energy at night than a skylight and gain less heat during the summer.

You have several options when selecting a tubular skylight. First, check the roof area for shady spots you should avoid. Also go up into the attic and look for a clear path for the tube from a sunny roof location to the room you want to brighten. The straightest and shortest path for the tube is best. Even though the interior of the tube is highly reflective, up to 98 percent, more length and bends reduce the brightness at the ceiling diffuser.

Most tubular skylight kits include a commonly-used length of straight reflective tubing. If you need elbows or additional tube length to fit around trusses or other obstructions in the attic, they are available from the manufacturers.

If you have a problem finding a relatively straight and direct path from the roof to the room ceiling, another option is to install a flexible tubular skylight. These are made of a reflective accordion-like tube which can be flexed around attic obstructions. This makes installation much easier, but some brightness is sacrificed due to the twists and turns in the tube wall.

Another option is installing several tubular skylights in one room or several rooms, as a grouped design. The reflective tubes run from each of the diffusers in the room(s) to a single opening, similar to a rectangular skylight. Such units can handle two or four tubular skylights.

Tips for increasing natural light in your home include painting the walls a bright (preferably white) color, hanging decorative wall mirrors, and installing Venetian mini-blinds to allow you to vary the amount of natural light. Without blinds, uncomfortable afternoon glare may force you to close curtains and turn on a lamp.

The following companies offer tubular skylight kits: Solatube , (800) 966-7652, ; Sun-Dome , (800) 596-8414; Sun Pipe , (800) 844-4786; Sun-Tek , (800) 334-5854; Tru-Lite , (800) 873-3309; and Velux , (800) 888-3589.

Send inquiries to James Dulley, Michigan Country Lines, 6906 Royalgreen Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45244 or visit his Web site.