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11/5/06

Cave Light

One of the most questions you are likely to be asked is does the cave have any windows? Of course they do! but due to the nature of a cave these cannot always be on every wall like a conventional house.
Some caves have a front and a back, these are usualy caves that are at the top of a hill of have been dug out of a corner of a rock face. This allows light through two angles and is a very attractive feature. Most caves however generaly just have one frontage and have 2/3 windows although up to 8 can be possible especialy in the case of two or three caves being joined together.



There is another solution, skylights are perfectly possible. These can be adapted from feeding holes dug through the rock near the rear of the cave which were traditionaly used to drop hay and grass through for the livestock. The only problem with a skylight is that when it rains the noise generated is similar to that of being in a caravan! Other solutions are mirrors and prism effects - these tend to be expensive to buy and fit although they are a fantastic source of natural light at the back of a cave.



Cueva Esperanza has 3 windows at the front, one in the door and two either side, for us this is more than sufficient due to the caves layout - every room leading onto the other has been dug directly behind the light source resulting in natural light reaching the very back of the cave.

2 comments:

Cream said...

Holes in a roof, no way!
I think I'd definitely opt for the mirrors...

Atila The Nun said...

Another effect is almost like a dorma window which I have seen in my hamlet and seems to be very effective. We were considering the prisim effect for the cave lounge but we are still discussing this one as I am not that sure that it will be worth the hassle involved.