The wife and I had a solar tube installed in the master bath today.  I wanted to install one the year we moved in but she is less likely than me to rush into matters.  Once she decides, though, she is great on executing.  

Happenstance helped us along by way of the the house next door.  Neighbors across the street one door up moved out;  they were renters and the house was being sold.  The new owners had solar tubes and sky lights installed.  The neighbor across the street went over and inspected the new work and decided his home needed a solar tube.  That decided it for my wife. 

We're astonished by the difference and a little worried.  It's a fully overcast day.  All the sunshine is forced to crawl through the clouds.  Yet this solar tube has the bath amazingly lit.  Now we're wondering, is it gonna be too much on super sunny days?  Do we need a diffuser?  

I'm pleased by all that light.   We started walking around, eyeing other places for solar tubes.  The kitchen, despite having a window, is a particularly dark, vaulted space.  The kitchen's shadows seem to suck light from the rest of the of the space.  I can hear that dark space licking its lips and chortling, "Come to me, my little light beams."  

It seems like a natural for a skylight or solar window or something.  Five hundred dollars to buy and install puts me off some.  I try to do the math:  I don't need to turn on lights so often but how much savings does that generate?  But on the emotional, intangible side, we have light. That dramatically changes the room's energy.

I think that's the decider.  You can't buy the kind of energy that sunshine through a tube delivers. We need energy.