People ask what an electric rooflight costs before they ask almost anything else, and the honest reply is that it depends on four or five things that only show up once someone has looked at the room and the roof. A rooflight that opens by motor is a fixed rooflight plus an opener, a power supply, a control and usually a sensor. Each of those has its own range, and the job of fitting them together depends on how your house is built.
We do not quote a figure from a distance, because it would be a guess. What this guide does is set out the parts of the job in the order they usually appear on a written quote, so that when you hold one in your hand you know what each line is for. It also covers the questions that separate a full quote from a short one.
Start with the rooflight itself
Before any motor is added, there is the glass and frame, and its size sets the baseline. A small roof window over a landing is a modest item. A wide flat rooflight over a kitchen island is a much larger one, with heavier glass, a bigger frame and a stronger hinge. Weight matters here, because the opener has to lift whatever the lid weighs, and the bigger lid needs a stronger motor.
The shape of the roof changes the product too. Pitched-roof windows come in a range of standard sizes from the makers, which keeps the price steady. Flat-roof opening rooflights are more often made to a chosen size, and a made-to-measure unit costs more than one from a standard range. Our guide to flat roof rooflights explains the sizes and the upstand they sit on.
The opener: motor, chain or arm
The opener is the part that makes the job electric, and it comes in a few forms. A chain actuator pushes a lid up on a hinge, rather like a car boot strut. A rack or arm opener does the same job with a firmer mechanical action and suits a heavier lid. On pitched roofs, many roof windows are made in an electric version in which the motor is built into the frame, so there is nothing extra to add on site.
An opener built in at the factory usually costs more as a product than a manual window, yet it saves time on the day because it has been fitted and tested already. A separate actuator added to a larger lid costs less as a part, but the fitting takes longer and the alignment has to be checked carefully. Neither is wrong. The right one depends on the size of the lid and how often it will move.
Power: mains, low voltage or solar
How the motor gets its electricity changes the price more than people expect. A mains-fed opener runs from a small transformer that steps the supply down to a safe low voltage at the rooflight. It needs a cable from the house supply, and where that cable runs decides the cost. If the ceiling is open because of a loft conversion or a new extension, the cable is simple to lay. If the room is finished and decorated, chasing a route through plaster adds time and making good adds more.
A solar opener avoids the cable. A small panel on the frame charges a battery that works the motor, so there is nothing to connect to the house. The product costs a little more, and the saving is in the labour and in leaving a decorated room alone. It needs daylight on the panel, which is a question for the survey. Our page on whether electric rooflights need an electrician explains where qualified electrical work comes in.
Controls: switch, remote or app
The simplest control is a wall switch, wired back to the transformer. It is cheap and reliable and anyone in the house can use it without learning anything. A handheld wireless remote costs a little more and means the rooflight can be opened from an armchair. A control that links to a phone or a home system costs more again and suits people who want to set the rooflight to open on a schedule.
It is worth deciding this at the survey, because the cabling for a wall switch is far easier to place before the ceiling is closed. The page on rain sensors and controls for rooflights goes through the options and what each one adds to the price.
Rain sensor and other extras
A rain sensor shuts the rooflight when the first drops fall, which is the feature most people want once they have thought about leaving it open and going out. It adds a modest amount to the job. A heat sensor that opens the rooflight when a room warms past a set point is another extra, and the two are often combined in one control unit.
Blinds are the other common addition. A motorised blind made for the rooflight can be run from the same control, and ordering it with the rooflight is usually simpler than adding it later, since the maker can supply it to the exact glass size. Ask for each extra as a separate line on the quote, so you can keep it or drop it on its own cost.
| Part of the job | What moves the price |
|---|---|
| Rooflight | Size, frame material, glazing, standard or made to measure |
| Opener | Lid weight, built-in or added, chain or arm |
| Power | Mains cable route, transformer, or a solar panel and battery |
| Control | Wall switch, remote, or phone and home system |
| Sensors | Rain, heat, or both together |
| Fitting | Roof type, access, upstand, finishing inside |
The roof and the fit
The cost of fitting depends on what is already there. A new opening in a pitched roof means cutting rafters, framing the opening with trimmers and dressing a flashing into the slates or tiles. A flat roof means building or adapting an upstand, insulating it and bringing the roof covering up and over it. Replacing an existing rooflight with an electric one is usually simpler, because the opening already exists, though the old upstand has to be checked to see whether it is tall and warm enough for the new unit.
Access counts as well. A roof reached from a garden with a clear run is quicker to work on than one over a three-storey back addition where a tower or scaffold is needed. That appears as a separate line, as does taking the waste away. Floors, stairs and furniture are covered as a matter of course, so protection is part of every quote rather than an extra.
The state of the roof around the opening deserves a mention too. If the covering is near the end of its life, cutting into it for a new rooflight is the moment to ask whether it should be renewed at the same time. Doing both together means one visit, one weathering detail round the upstand and one guarantee, and the quote can show the two options side by side so you can weigh them.
On a pitched roof the matching question is the slates or tiles near the opening. They are lifted and relaid around the new flashing, and any that crack in the lifting are replaced from the stock we carry or sourced to match. Pantile and slate roofs in the villages around York behave differently under that work, which is one reason the survey includes a look at the roof from outside.
The finish inside the room
The reveal, the lined box between the ceiling and the frame, is what you see every day. Insulating it, boarding it and plastering it to a smooth edge is part of a properly finished job, and a splayed reveal that widens towards the room takes a little more work than a straight one. The wiring for a switch also has to be finished neatly, with the cable hidden and the faceplate set square.
Decorating is the optional part. Some households want the new plaster painted at the end, others prefer to do it themselves to match the rest of the room. Listing it on its own line lets you choose without disturbing the rest of the quote.
Planning and Building Regulations fees
Cutting a new opening in a roof brings Building Regulations into the job, since both the structure and the heat loss of the roof change. Swapping a complete rooflight for another is a controlled fitting as well, so it is notifiable. Where the work falls under that rule, the notification is ours to make and the building control fee is shown on the quote. Changing only a sealed glass unit sits outside it.
Planning is a separate matter, and for most houses it is a light one. Flats, listed buildings and some conservation-area streets are the exceptions. Our skylight planning permission guide explains which conditions apply, and any council application fee would appear on its own line.
Both fees are small next to the rest of the job, but they are real, and a quote that leaves them out has only moved the cost to a later date. Ask who pays them and when.
What it costs to live with
An electric rooflight draws very little current, because the motor only runs for the few seconds it takes to open or close. The running cost is small enough that it would not be worth working out on its own. What matters over the years is the opener itself, which is a moving part and gets the use that a fixed window does not. Makers fit motors designed for many thousands of cycles, and they carry their own warranties, which we pass to you at handover along with the details of the product.
It is also worth asking what happens when the electricity goes off, since the answer shapes which model to choose. We cover that in what happens to an electric rooflight in a power cut.
How to compare two quotes
Put the quotes side by side and compare them by line rather than by total. A lower figure may leave out the sensor, assume a standard size where yours needs a special one, or skip the finishing of the reveal. None of that is visible on the day, but you will see it in how the rooflight behaves and how the room looks afterwards.
Questions worth putting to anyone quoting:
- How is the rooflight powered, and where does the cable run?
- Is a rain sensor included, and what does it do when the power fails?
- Who carries out the electrical connection, and is it part of the price?
- Is the reveal plastered, and is decorating included?
- Who arranges Building Control, and is the fee shown?
- What does the workmanship guarantee cover, and for how long?
Our written quote answers each one, itemised line by line, and adds a plan for each day of the fit. The survey is free, and you can book it with the form below. If you are still choosing between ways of opening, hinged or sliding is a good place to look next, and the main page on electric opening rooflights ties it all together.