We live in a heavily wooded area in the Colorado Foothills. After about October 1, the sun sinks behind the trees and fails to fully light (or warm) our house until about April. So we are looking for a way to get more natural light into the house.

Concerns are summer heat (at 8300 ft the summer sun can be broiling), snow load (7ft at a time), and cost (we are on a budget but realize the cost of making poor decisions).

The home is manufactured log with a cathedral tounge and groove ceiling. We have three windows on the south wall of the great room. There is space above those windows for more windows, and the wall is not load-bearing, so installation is not an issue. We are also considering skylights (two in the great room, one in the loft) which would face generally east and west.

Does anyone see a distinct advantage to one or the other?

Thanks for any advice!

 

look into the tubular skylights , lots of light for low cost minimal labor

 

Yep, tubular is a good possiblilty. Not as much light as a skylight but much easier for your enviornment. And skylights should not face south, even with good lo-E glass. My choice for skylights would be Velux.