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Some Wife and I have different philosophies on some things, one of which is turning on lights in hallways.

I prefer to have light so I can see to not step on whatever things the kids have strewn about the hallway.

She thinks its a waste of electricity for such a short distance, especially during the daytime when there’s enough residual light.

We went back and forth for a while. Years, in fact. I leave the room and turn on the light; she follows and turns it off. Or vice-versa. Not that she was following me just to turn off the light – it’s just that if we are going somewhere that’s how it usually works out.

I got tired of flipping the light switch, especially as there is plenty of light available, just not in the interior hallway. If only there were a way to get outside light inside the house.

Behold, the magic of skylight tubes! They are perfect for a situation such as our upstairs hallway, where there is no place for a window to the outside, and the ceiling has an attic above it.

So I bought one to install. That took me a couple of weekends working on it part time, and had a bit of a learning curve. Plus the attic was tall enough that I had to buy some extension tubes.

But I got it in, and it worked. But the light wasn’t impressive. A number of reviews had said that one skylight tube looks bleak, but add a second one and it is much better. The sum is greater than the parts, or something like that.

So I bought another one and installed it. Installation was about 4 hours one Saturday this time – much quicker the second time around.

Here are the main steps, in case you’re interested.

• Cut a hole in the ceiling drywall
• install the interior diffuser
• go into the attic, find the interior diffuser, and mark a spot on the south-facing roof that lines up with the diffuser.
• cut a hole in the roof
• go on the roof and install the exterior dome and flashing
• go back in the attic and connect the diffuser and dome via shiny tubes
• clean up

I must agree with the other reviewers – having two skytubes is more than twice as good as one skytube.

Here are the before and after pictures, although I don’t have any with just the one skytube.

Before, with the bedroom door fully shut.

Before, with the bedroom door mostly shut. This is how it usually was.

After, with the door fully closed.

After, looking from the bedroom doorway.

End result: I’m pleased with them. They do what they’re supposed to do, and now Some Wife and I don’t disagree on the hallway light switch. The skytubes were more expensive than the electricity we’re saving, but overall it was worth it.