Dear Jim: I want more natural light so fewer electric lights are needed. I am not a big do-it-yourselfer, so a skylight with a lightwell is not an option. Will a tubular skylight help and what other tips are there? – Chris D.

Dear Chris: Using more natural light can reduce your utility bills. Installing a tubular skylight is a good alternative to a standard skylight and is less expensive. I installed a tubular skylight in my garage. It even brightens the garage on a clear night with a full moon.

Tubular skylight kits use a small tube, usually in the 9- to 21-inch-diameter range, which runs from a hole in the roof to a hole in the ceiling. Its interior surface is highly reflective so little light is lost as it travels down from the roof.

The roof end is covered by a clear bubble dome to catch more sunlight. The lower end of the tube, which is flush with the room ceiling, is covered with a frosted diffuser so it looks similar to a large recessed light.

A tubular skylight will not produce as much light as a large skylight. As you noted though, installing a standard skylight in a room with an attic above it requires building a lightwell from the ceiling to the roof.

Another advantage of a tubular skylight over a standard skylight is efficiency. Even the best skylights have a lower insulation R-value than an insulated ceiling. A tubular skylight requires only a small hole in the ceiling and the interior of the tube is fairly airtight.

You have several options when selecting a tubular skylight. Go up into the attic and look for a clear path for the tube from a sunny roof location to the room you want to brighten. The shortest path for the tube is best.

Most tubular skylight kits include a commonly used length of rigid reflective tubing. If you need elbows or more tube length to fit around obstructions in the attic, they are available from the manufacturers.

If you have a problem finding a direct path from the roof to the room ceiling, another option is a flexible tubular skylight. This is made of a reflective accordionlike tube which can be flexed around obstructions.

Still another option, if you want several tubular skylights in one room or ones in several rooms, is a grouped design. The reflective tubes run from each of the diffusers in the room(s) up to a single opening, similar to a small rectangular skylight, in the roof.

Some common tips for more natural light are painting your walls a bright, preferably white, color. Hang decorative mirrors. Install Venetian miniblinds so you can vary the amount of natural light. Without them, afternoon glare may force you to close curtains and switch on a lamp.

The following companies offer tubular skylight kits: Solatube, (800) 966-7652, www.solatube.com; Sun-Dome, (800) 596-8414, www.sun-dome.com; Sun Pipe, (800) 844-4786, www.sunpipe.com; Sun-Tek, (800) 334-5854, www.sun-tek.com; Tru-Lite, (800) 873-3309, www.tru-lite.com; and Velux, (800) 888-3589, www.velux

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Send inquiries to James Dulley, Bangor Daily News, 6906 Royalgreen Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45244 or visit www.dulley.com.