The best way for fabricators to optimise their profitability is to be as efficient as possible, and that means avoiding getting tied up in smaller, time-consuming jobs.
As a result, it’s surprising that more fabricators don’t use pre-assembled rooflights, given that using them can free up so much time, and offer lots of long-term benefits to property owners.
Our Commercial Director, Paul Higgins explains the six reasons why fabricators should look again at ordering and using pre-built rooflights.
Key Takeaways
- Pre-assembled rooflights are designed to be installed within just 15 minutes, so no specialist tooling or niche production processes are needed.
- Products are manufactured to a high standard with a specified U-Value and are compliant with all of the relevant British Standards.
Reason 1: Solar control glass
In the past, buildings with rooflights could often be blindingly bright and suffocatingly hot. To counter this effect, glass with a dark tint was used. However, the dark tinted glass often made the space feel too dark on overcast days.
Solar glass can now be specified for rooflights, which is designed to avoid these problems. It has a special coating that reflects the sun’s rays and prevents indoor spaces getting too hot. It is available untinted to avoid making spaces feel too dark and is perfect for south-facing extensions and open-plan kitchen-diners.
With our summers getting hotter and drier, and the incoming Future Homes Standard and Approved Document Part O making solar management a key issue, take-up of this type of technology will inevitably increase over the next few years.
Reason 2: Thermal performance
As heating bills continue to rise, energy efficiency and sustainability have never been more important to property owners. Pre-built rooflights are designed to offer significantly better thermal performance than standard double-glazing.
Our Infinity rooflights are made with Low Emissivity (Low-E) glass, which reflects heat back into a room. They are filled with argon gas which is denser and has lower thermal conductivity than air. They also use Thermal SuperSpacer technology, a silicone-based foam, which is less conductive than metal and supports heat retention.
As a result, the U-values in our Infinity rooflights are 1.2 W/m²K for double glazing and 0.7 W/m²K for triple-glazed options, as standard. They are also BSEN1279 compliant.
This helps property owners to have the best of both worlds, a brighter, airier property which doesn’t have a negative impact on their heating bills.
Reason 3: UV protection
By their very nature, rooflights are designed to add more daylight to a space, but it’s important that that daylight doesn’t bring with it a large increase in UV (ultraviolet) radiation.
Quality pre-built rooflights, like our Infinity range, are designed to filter out 99.9% of UV rays. This avoids sun-bleaching of furniture and artwork in the indoor space. It also protects the building’s users from harmful UVA rays, which can cause skin damage and lead to premature ageing and skin cancer.
Reason 4: Quality and standards
Our pre-built rooflight products are designed to comply with various standards including BS EN 1279 for insulated glass units, and BS EN 12150 for toughened safety glass.
They’ve also been through the heat soaking process (in line with BS EN 14179) which is used as a quality filter to identify substandard glass and ensure it’s not used in our products. This greatly reduces the risk of breakages once the rooflights have been installed.
They are also designed to comply with BS6375-1 for weather testing, which means they’re designed not to leak. This reduces the potential for issues post-install.
They are compliant as standard, and if the standards change, so will our products. That means that fabricators and builders can be confident that the rooflights they install are robust and compliant with all of the relevant safety standards.
They are also Made in Britain at our own factory in Liverpool, which means that we can keep a close eye on quality, and because they’re made on our own site, there’s no delays related to shipping.
Reason 5: Installation simplicity
Our Infinity pre-built rooflights are designed to be installed within just 15 minutes, so no specialist tooling or niche production processes are needed for assembly.
The process of installing an Infinity rooflight involves just three steps:
- Removing the packaging that protects the rooflight from damage during transportation
- Applying a good quality mastic to the top of the upstand
- Positioning the rooflight on top of the upstand
By having such a simple installation process, it is safer and means that fabricators and contractors can get time back to spend elsewhere.
You can watch a short video on the installation process here
Reason 6: Trade customer discounts
At TuffX, we like to get to know our customers so we can develop strong working relationships with them. To encourage fabricators and contractors to work with us directly, we offer our trade customers a discount when they buy Infinity products from us.
The discount can be as much as 40% on flat, fixed framed and frameless rooflights, as well as walk-on floors and walk-on thermal rooflights. All you need to do is send a standard enquiry through to us using our enquiry form and say you’d like a trade customer discount.
To learn more about our Infinity rooflight range, contact our expert team for guidance on choosing the right solution for your project. Or call on 0345 3400 200.
Resources
Infinity rooflights
Infinity brochure
Bespoke rooflights
Infinity installation video
Understanding U-Values
Tackling overheating article
Other resources
Future Homes Standard
Approved Document O