Tunnel Light

Solatube’s tubular skylight products brilliantly brighten up a room during the day. But what do you do for light when the sun sets? Well, Solatube offers a light kit
that you can install in the tube if you decide you need more light at night. Installing the light is an easy do-it-yourself project.

TOOLS
    * Drill
    * Screwdriver
    * Ladder
    * Tape measure

MATERIALS
    * Solatube light kit
    * 7/8” spur bit
    * Wire nuts

Installation
    * Using a ladder, climb up and measure seven and a half inches inside the Solatube to where you want to install the light fixture.
    * Mark the spot with a magic marker.
    * Take a drill and drill a pilot hole through the Solatube. This will be the reference point for drilling a larger hole to run the wires for the light fixture.
    * Go into the attic, and using a 7/8” spur bit, drill a larger hole around the pilot hole. Now slide the coupler (that comes with the light kit) into this hole. Wires from the light fixture will go through the coupler.
    * Return to where your Solatube is and take the wires from the light fixture and run them through the coupler into the attic. The light fixture will attach to the coupler using a nut that turns down just finger tight.
    * Now go back to the attic, tighten down the coupler’s screws with a screwdriver so it’s snug to the exterior of the Solatube in the attic.
    * Take the Romex insulation tube (included in the kit), insert the red anti-shock bushing into the Romex, then run the wires from the light fixture through the insulation. This Romex insulation will protect the wires from any animals or rodents who might gnaw through the wires at a later time.
    * In our segment, we attached the other end of the wires to a circuit that had been used for a ceiling light that had been removed.
    * In this case, drop the wires down from the attic into the box, then go back downstairs and wire them together.

WARNING: Any time you’re working with electricity, always make sure that the circuit you’re working on is not hot. In other words, turn the breaker off before you start working, then use a volt meter to check to make sure no current is passing into that circuit.

    * Remove the wire nuts from the old wires.
    * Now take the new and old wires and attach them like this: black to black, white to white, and the green ground wire to the box. Once you’ve twisted the wires together, use a wire nut to create a good connection. Just screw the wire nut down over the wires clockwise until it's snug.
    * The last thing to do is put in your light bulbs, flip the switch, and voila’, you’ll have a bright light at night. And because of the special reflective coating used to make the Solatube work so well during the day, you don’t need more than 100 watts (two 50 watt bulbs) inside the tube to make it just as bright at night.