How much does an electric opening rooflight cost?

Whatever you call it, a skylight or a rooflight that opens by motor is priced from its parts. A bigger opening means a bigger frame and more glass, so size is one thing that moves a price. The maker matters too. Ranges differ in frame depth, in colours and finishes, and in which models include electric or solar operation at all. A pitched roof window, a hinged flat rooflight and a lantern with a vent pane are different products from different lists, and cannot be priced against each other without knowing which one suits the room.

A size outside a maker's catalogue may be built to order by that maker, and it is priced apart from the stock sizes.

The two routes cost money in different places. A mains unit needs a supply and, on some models, a separate controller or transformer, and the cable has to be run. A solar unit brings its own cell and battery, which spares the cable, but it is a different product from the mains version of the same window. Neither is simply cheaper. Which one comes out lower depends on how much the cable route would involve in your particular ceiling.

Daily use of each is compared in the mains and solar comparison.

This is the part a photograph cannot show. In a new extension with the ceiling still open, the cable is laid as the room goes up. In a finished room it may thread through the space above the plasterboard, sit in trunking or follow a wall, and what is available depends on what lies above. A switch on the wall adds a second run. A route through a freshly decorated ceiling means disturbing that ceiling, which is one reason solar is worth a look for a finished room. Where a group controller runs two units from one handset, the cabling follows from that, so say so early at the survey.

A wall switch, a handheld remote and a group controller are each a choice, and each can change the price of a job. A rain sensor is available from some makers on selected electric and solar models, built in on some and optional on others. A blind is chosen for the model's size code and maker, and a motorised blind that matches the window is a different item from a manual one.

These choices are best made before the order, since the cable and the controller have to be planned together. Questions to put to a maker about sensors are collected in the rain sensor page.

A like-for-like swap into an opening that already exists differs from a new cut. A flat roof needs a kerb that suits the opening unit, and a deeper frame and an actuator may mean the kerb or the slope detail has to change. The roof type, the covering and the access to get materials up all play a part. What is checked in a swap is covered by the fixed-to-opening page.

Cutting a fresh opening for a rooflight generally calls for approval under the Building Regulations. Where the work is notifiable, we handle the Building Regulations notification with the council's building control team or a registered building control approver.

The visit costs nothing, and the figure arrives afterwards. We measure the opening, look at what sits above the ceiling, and ask who will be pressing the button. If a picture helps you begin, WhatsApp 07880 284133 is the place for it.

The money side is a fixed written quote. Two prices compare fairly only when they are for the same size, the same maker and model, the same power route and the same controls; otherwise the lower figure may leave out part of the job. For the fitting, you have our 10-year workmanship guarantee, written down. The wider picture for every product is on our costs page, and the family overview is electric opening rooflights.