How is an electric rooflight or skylight controlled?

By whichever combination suits the room: a wall switch, a handheld remote, an automatic sensor, or an integration into a wider home system. Most units support several at once from the same controller. The one worth having whatever else is specified is a fixed wall control, because handsets get lost and a switch by the door does not.

The controller

The part that does the deciding.

Between the supply and the actuator sits a controller that receives commands from switches, remotes and sensors, and drives the motor accordingly.

Which controller is chosen sets what the system can grow into.

A wall switch

The simplest and the most used. A rocker or a keypad beside the door, at the same height as the lighting, is what people actually operate day to day, and it never needs a battery.

Where the switch should go

Decided with the room, before the walls are finished.

By the door somebody uses, not tucked behind a fridge or on the wall the units will cover, and it is worth marking on a drawing.

A handset

Convenient, and it is not a substitute.

A remote lets a rooflight be operated from anywhere in the room, which suits a large kitchen, and it lives in a drawer within a fortnight.

Both together is the sensible specification.

How handsets communicate

By radio, over a short range. Systems use their own radio protocol between the handset and the controller, which is why a handset from one manufacturer will not operate another’s unit.

Pairing

Done at commissioning and occasionally again. A handset is paired to a controller during the setup, and a replacement handset is paired the same way rather than working out of the box.

A rain sensor

An automatic input rather than a control.

The sensor tells the controller to close regardless of what anybody has pressed, and it is what makes leaving a unit open reasonable.

What it does is on what is a rain sensor rooflight.

A thermostat

The other automatic input. A temperature control opens the unit when a room passes a set point, which manages a hot afternoon in an empty house.

That is on can a rooflight open automatically on temperature.

Timers

Useful in a specific case. A timed opening in the morning airs a room on a schedule, which suits a bathroom or a utility more than a kitchen.

Home automation

Available on most current systems.

Where a house runs lighting or heating through a hub, rooflights can generally be brought onto the same system and operated by app or by voice.

It is worth raising before the controller is chosen.

Why the controller choice matters

Because it decides what can be added later.

A single unit controller does one job well. A system controller lets a second rooflight, a blind and a sensor be added without starting again.

Group control

Where more than one unit is involved.

Several actuators can be grouped so one command moves all of them, which is what you want across a kitchen and not what you want in separate rooms.

That is on can two rooflights open together.

Blinds on the same system

Tidier and worth planning.

Powered blinds from the same manufacturer generally run from the same handset and the same wall control, which avoids a collection of remotes.

Partial opening

Supported on many systems.

Holding a switch to open part way, or setting a preset position, is more useful than it sounds, because a fully open rooflight is often more air than a room wants.

Intermediate positions and presets

A refinement on the better systems.

A saved position that a single press returns to is convenient enough that people use the rooflight more, which is the whole point.

What happens after a power cut

The system waits rather than acting.

Controllers return to a safe state and take the next command, rather than moving on their own when the supply comes back.

What that means is on can an electric rooflight be opened in a power cut.

The isolator

Worth knowing where it is.

Somebody will want to isolate the unit for decorating or for a repair, and a labelled isolator saves a search at the consumer unit.

Labelling

A small thing that ages well.

Where a house has several powered units, labelling the switches and the handset channels means the next occupant can work out what does what.

Where a control should not be

Within easy reach of a small child, on a unit that opens.

A rooflight is out of reach in the ceiling, but a low switch that opens it is not, and positioning the control at normal switch height rather than lower is the whole of it.

Battery life in a handset

Years, and it fails at the least convenient moment.

A handset that has stopped working is almost always a battery rather than a fault, and it is worth checking that before assuming a controller has failed.

Replacing a lost handset

Straightforward if you know what you have.

A replacement is ordered against the controller model and paired on site, which is why noting the model at installation saves an afternoon later.

Range and interference

Rarely an issue in a house and worth knowing about.

Radio controls work comfortably across a room, and thick walls, foil backed insulation and metal ductwork are what shorten that range.

It is considered when a wall control position is chosen.

What we fit on an opening unit

We fit a wall control on every powered unit even where a handset is supplied, because the handset is what gets lost and the switch by the door is what gets used.

The whole picture is on the electric rooflight installation page.