Is old skylight over common hallway meant for proper ventilation too?
Flat roof vented skylight over common hallway. Besides the light, to what extent is the purpose proper ventilation of house. Sure would be warmer in the winter if the vents were sealed – lots of heat loss – but would it be healthful, legal codewise, etc. Thanks.
brooklyntarbeach
in Skylight 13 years and 3 months ago
9
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9 replies
callalily | 13 years and 3 months ago
OP, so your skylight vents directly onto the roof? Ours vents into the attic. Your setup sounds freezing.
elbow | 13 years and 3 months ago
We have a brownstone but the roof is sloped and there’s an apartment under the slope. There’s no attic space. This holds true for many corner properties. There is a skylight over the stair but it’s only a little deeper than rafter size on the inside.
daveinbedstuy | 13 years and 3 months ago
I also installed rigid insulation around the outside of the vented portion of the one skylight. Bubble wrap might work even better.
daveinbedstuy | 13 years and 3 months ago
Are you sure you have absolutely no cockloft or space between the top floor ceiling and the roof? If it’s a brownstone chances are almost 100% that you do. Get it isulated and have them add two vents. Federal restortion did mine. it makes a big difference to your heating bill. I have three skylights and they all remain in place. Two of them are in the bathroom and one has the vents in the “hat” in order to decrease heat loss during the winter, i inserted a plexiglass insulation barrier at the top of the shaft. it works really well. These would be illegal (plegiglass) in the eyes of the FDNY.
brooklyntarbeach | 13 years and 3 months ago
Thanks for the interesting comments. Cockloft is a new term for me, but no attic-like spaces so don’t think it applies.
This skylight is located directly above the middle of the staircase in the hallway leading to the 2nd floor apartment. It’s raised less than 2 ft above the flat roof. I’d call it utilitarian rather than decorative.
Tried to find out what it’s called. Found a pic that’s close except ours has fixed louvers along a slightly raised bottom perimeter.
http://cdn.brownstoner.com/4f28d83a002ae-httpwww.bbsheetmetal.comimagesproducts1152p1152.jpg
The one in the photo is marketed as the New York City Approved Skylight ( “Skylights with ribbed glass and top and bottom screens are the new york building code for over stairwells in a multi family building.”)
So that was a good call yte – this was a 3Fam converted to 2Fam years back.
You can feel the denser colder air flowing down into the hallway. Interesting idea about plexiglass.There originally was a radiator at the top landing of those stairs. It must have made a difference, but coal heat was probably cheap then…
callalily | 13 years and 3 months ago
OP, it depends on the age and style of the house. We have the original skylight with colored glass and it is open into the attic, so hot air flows from the house below up into the attic. (The skylight is two levels, with a hidden opening.) I believe the attic originally must have been vented under the eaves, but unfortunately these were covered up with vinyl siding, so now the only vent outside is via the air shaft (also open to the attic). Our house is not insulated, and I need to weatherstrip the front door, but our oil bills have been surprisingly competitive, so I think we are not losing too much heat though the skylight. Unfortunately, it is hot as can be on the top floor in the summer, probably because of our missing vents and black roof. Our house has a lot of moisture in the summer because of the basement rubble walls and partial dirt floor, and I would be reluctant to seal up the skylight for this reason. However, if you have access to attic, you can cut a large piece of plexiglass and just lay it on top of the opening in the winter to close it off.
yte | 13 years and 3 months ago
If the property is 3 families or more (AKA a multiple dwelling) than yes, the skylight must be vented. If a one or two family, it is up to you…..I believe the reason multifamilies have the vented skylight is to illuminate the hallway/stairwell during the day and to create a positive flow of air up and out should there ever be a fire in the common hallway. Also firemen are known to break the skylight in the event of a fire to release the smoke and possibly gain access in an emergency.
BHS | 13 years and 3 months ago
As Bob mentions, these were often covered by a glass panel at the ceiling level. My house is in fairly original condition and did not have vents from the cockloft to the skylight shaft, but dow have a panel of stained glass at the ceiling that for the most part seals off the ventilation from the skylight. The same setup is in the two bathrooms where the glass panels at ceiling level were on pivots so that you could open up the room to the skylight shaft for ventilation as needed. A rope was tied to the panel for this purpose. I like that hot air can escape from the skylight shaft in the summer but that these are closed off in the winter.
BobMarvin | 13 years and 3 months ago
_AFAIK any vents in the housing are intended to vent the cock loft_ rather than the house and should be blocked by the glass panel (stained and leaded, frosted, whatever) that’s level with the ceiling. If that is missing you might want to replace it.