Eco-friendly Lighting: Plan a Sunroom Addition

Sunrooms create warmth and eco-friendly lighting during colder months by capturing solar heat from the sun. Some of the benefits of sunrooms include cost- and energy-efficient lighting, architectural interest, and greenhouse functionality. Plus, sunrooms provide unique lighting design options not suitable for other areas of the home. Here’s how to plan a sunroom addition:

• Orient the sunroom toward the south to get the maximum amount of sunlight during the winter.
• Choose glass walls rather than glazed plastic because it’s more durable, doesn’t fade or yellow, and retains heat better.
• Include skylights if the sunroom will be used as a greenhouse as well.
• Use dense construction materials such as concrete and stone within the sunroom to retain as much heat as possible.
• Consider ventilating with windows, doors, and skylights for year-round use.

Lux Lighting Design created an English conservatory (above) with a lighting design that maximizes indoor and outdoor viewing. The lighting features include perimeter ledge uplighting to highlight the conservatory’s architectural beams, a handmade decorative pendant for inside lighting, exterior wall-mounted lighting to provide safe and stylish pathway and stair lighting.