Electric Skylight Installation in Cheltenham & Gloucestershire

There is a quiet pleasure in pressing a button and watching a skylight glide open above you — warm air lifting out, fresh air drawing in, and the room transformed without you so much as reaching for a pole. An electric skylight brings daylight and ventilation together with effortless control, and for skylights set high above a kitchen island, a stairwell or a double-height space, it is often the only sensible way to open the glass at all. As Cheltenham’s dedicated skylight specialists, we install and fully replace electric skylights and roof windows across the town and throughout Gloucestershire.

An electric skylight is more than a convenience. The right unit, sensibly wired and properly fitted, gives you ventilation you will actually use, automatic protection against the weather, and a level of comfort that a fixed or manual unit simply cannot match. This page sets out what electric skylights are, where they earn their place, and how we install them — from the Regency terraces of Montpellier to the new-build estates around Bishop’s Cleeve.

What an electric skylight is

An electric skylight is an opening rooflight or roof window driven by a small concealed motor rather than a handle or a winding pole. At its simplest you press a wall switch or a remote and the unit opens and closes. At its most capable it links into a wider home-control system, opens to pre-set positions, closes automatically when it senses rain, and works alongside blinds and other rooflights as a group. The principle is the same whether the unit sits in a pitched roof — a VELUX-style roof window over a loft — or on a flat roof, as a glass rooflight or a lantern with an opening vent.

Crucially, an electric skylight opens for a reason: ventilation. Warm, stale air rises and collects at the top of a room, so a rooflight is one of the best places to let it out. As it escapes through the roof, cooler fresh air is drawn in elsewhere — a simple, effective stack effect that clears cooking steam, summer heat and bathroom moisture. An electric unit makes that easy to do, even when the glass is well out of reach.

Why use a specialist — and why electric in particular

Electric skylights combine two trades: glazing and a small amount of low-voltage or mains electrical work. Get either wrong and you have a problem — a leak around the unit, or a control that never quite works as it should. A specialist installs the glazing watertight and sets up the electrics and controls so they are reliable from day one. We fit the unit, run and connect the wiring sensibly, pair the remotes and sensors, and demonstrate it all before we leave.

The case for going electric in the first place is strongest exactly where manual opening is awkward. High rooflights over a kitchen island, a stairwell, a double-height hallway or a vaulted living space are often impossible to reach with a pole and tiresome to operate even if you can. Cheltenham has no shortage of these — the tall, elegant proportions of its period homes and the open-plan volumes of its contemporary extensions both lend themselves to glass that is well overhead. For those positions, electric is not a luxury; it is what makes the ventilation usable. For a fuller weighing-up of the benefits against the cost, our are electric skylights worth it guide is a good companion to this page.

Types and options

Electric opening comes in several forms, and the right one depends on the position, the roof and how you want to control it.

Mains electric

The unit is wired to your mains supply and operated by a wall switch, a handheld remote or a home-control app. Mains electric gives full, instant control and is the natural choice where a power supply is already nearby or easy to run — over a kitchen, in a new extension, or anywhere being wired as part of wider work.

Solar-powered

A solar-powered skylight carries its own small solar panel and battery, so it opens and closes on stored solar energy with no wiring at all. That makes it invaluable for retrofits where running a cable to a high or awkward rooflight would mean disruption and chasing into ceilings. It is also the simplest route for a single rooflight in an existing roof. The convenience is the same as mains; only the power source differs.

Rain sensors and automatic closing

Both mains and solar electric units can include a rain sensor that closes the skylight automatically the moment it detects rain. For a skylight you cannot easily reach, this is genuinely valuable — you can leave it open on a warm day without a second thought, knowing a passing shower will not leave your floor wet. It is one of the features customers tell us they appreciate most.

Smart and grouped control

Electric skylights can be brought into a home-control system, controlled by app or voice, set to open and close on a schedule, and grouped so several units operate together. Electric blinds can be paired in too, so light and ventilation are managed from one place. We set this up to suit how you actually live in the room rather than loading it with features you will never touch.

Electric on flat roofs and pitched roofs alike

Electric opening is not limited to one roof type. On a pitched roof, an electric VELUX-style roof window opens for ventilation in a loft or sloping-ceilinged room — see our VELUX window cost guide for the product side. On a flat roof, an opening vent can be built into a flat glass rooflight or a lantern over an extension. We match the electric unit to your roof, not the other way round.

Materials and frames

The frame choices for an electric skylight are the same as for any quality rooflight, and the motor sits discreetly within. Aluminium is the popular modern choice — strong, slim, low-maintenance, powder-coated in any colour, and entirely happy housing the opening mechanism within a clean profile. For VELUX-style roof windows, factory-finished timber and maintenance-free polyurethane options are standard, with the electric motor integrated by the manufacturer. Whatever the frame, the mechanism is engineered to be quiet, reliable and largely invisible — you see the glass and the daylight, not the workings.

Glazing and performance

Going electric does not change the glazing decisions; it sits alongside them. The glass still does the heavy lifting on comfort, and the same priorities apply. A low U-value keeps heat in through winter; a solar-control coating keeps a sunny room from overheating in summer; and on a large or noisy installation, an extra pane of glass softens rain noise overhead. Because an electric skylight opens, ventilation and glazing work together — you can shed heat by opening the unit on a warm evening, while the right coating manages the heat that comes through the closed glass during the day. For the detail on getting that balance right, see our energy-efficient skylight installation page. There is no reason an electric unit should perform any worse than a fixed one; it simply adds control on top.

Our installation process

An electric skylight installation runs much like any quality rooflight install, with the electrical and control setup folded in. Here is how we work.

• Survey. We visit, assess the roof and the position, and work out the most sensible route for the wiring — or confirm that a solar unit avoids wiring altogether. We talk through how you want to control it.
• Specification and fixed quote. We recommend the right unit, opening type, glazing and controls, then give you a fixed written price after the survey.
• Glazing installation. We fit or replace the unit watertight — forming or preparing the opening, fitting the kerb on a flat roof or the flashing on a pitched one, and detailing the weatherproofing correctly.
• Electrical and controls. We run and connect the wiring sensibly (or commission the solar unit), pair remotes, switches, rain sensors and any smart control, and set up grouping where you want it.
• Demonstration and handover. We open and close the unit with you, walk you through the controls and the rain sensor, leave everything clean, and back the workmanship with our written guarantee.

Building regulations and planning

An electric skylight is, first and foremost, glazing in your roof, so it must meet the Building Regulations like any other rooflight. Part L governs energy efficiency and the U-value the glazing must achieve, and Part K covers safety glazing where the position requires it — we fit units that meet the standard as a matter of course. The electrical side is straightforward but must be done properly: any mains connection is carried out to the relevant wiring standards so it is safe and compliant. Solar-powered units sidestep the mains question entirely, which is part of their appeal for retrofits.

On planning, most skylights — electric or otherwise — fall under permitted development for houses, provided they do not project unduly and sit within the limits, but that is not the end of the story in our part of the world. Cheltenham’s conservation areas — Montpellier, Lansdown, the Park and others — and the wider Cotswold conservation areas and listed buildings across Gloucestershire change the picture, because anything visible from the street can be scrutinised. A loft window on a front-facing slope in a conservation street in Cheltenham, or anywhere in the protected centres of Cirencester, Tewkesbury, Stroud or Winchcombe, needs checking before work begins. We always confirm your property’s conservation and listing status as part of the survey, so there are no surprises.

Indicative cost

An electric skylight costs more than a fixed or manual equivalent — you are paying for the motor, the controls and, for mains units, the wiring — but the premium buys you ventilation and control you will use every day. The figure depends on the unit, the opening type, the glazing, and how much electrical work is involved. We give a fixed written quote after a survey. As an indicative 2026 guide, supplied and installed:

• An electric or solar VELUX-style roof window in a pitched roof: from approximately £1,400–£2,600 depending on size and specification, with solar versions avoiding wiring cost.
• An electric opening flat glass rooflight on a flat-roof extension: from approximately £2,200–£4,500 depending on size and glazing.
• An opening vent built into a roof lantern: a modest premium over the equivalent fixed lantern, priced with the unit.
• Mains wiring, where a supply is not already nearby: priced on top according to the run and the access.

These are guide figures only. The rain-sensor option, smart control and grouping all add a little, while a solar unit can keep a retrofit simpler and cheaper by avoiding the wiring entirely. The accurate number comes from a fixed written quote after we have seen the position.

Across Cheltenham and Gloucestershire

Electric skylights suit the way people actually live across our patch, and the local property mix plays to their strengths. In Cheltenham itself, the tall ceilings of period townhouses and the open volumes of contemporary rear extensions both put glass well overhead, where electric opening turns an unreachable rooflight into usable ventilation. In Gloucester, family homes and modern developments take electric and solar units readily. Around Bishop’s Cleeve and the new-build estates near Cheltenham, where wiring can be planned in from the start, mains electric is a natural fit — and if you are building, our new-build rooflight installation page is the place to start.

In the Cotswold towns — Cirencester, Tewkesbury, Stroud and Winchcombe — older properties with high ceilings and awkward rooflight positions are exactly where solar-powered electric units shine, because they avoid running cables through fabric you would rather not disturb, and they keep visible alterations minimal in sensitive settings. Wherever you are in Gloucestershire, we match the opening type and the controls to the property and the way you use the room. See the areas we cover for the full list.

Why Aspect Skylights

Electric skylights ask for a specialist who handles both the glazing and the controls with equal care, and that is what we do. We install the unit watertight, set up the electrics and the smart control to be reliable from the first press of the button, and leave you with ventilation you will genuinely use rather than a gadget you fight with.

You get honest advice on whether electric is worth it for your particular position — sometimes a manual unit within easy reach is the sensible call, and we will say so — a fixed written quote after a free survey, glazing matched to your room, and our written guarantee on our workmanship. To talk through an electric skylight for your home, get a quote, or browse the full range on our services overview.