In our quest to enhance our home’s lighting ambiance, we found ourselves looking for some natural light cascading through a skylight. However, the with architectural constraints, and the presence of solar panels on the roof made this seem like a it was impossible task. That’s when we stumbled upon the Nanoleaf Skylight, marketed as a revolutionary solution that promised to bring the beauty of the sky indoors in a way that was both practical and stylish. So, we reached out to our friends at Nanoleaf to see if the light was as good as the hype.
FIRST IMPRESSION
I decided to review this as the namesake suggests, as a Skylight, and see how the Nano leaf stacks up against the real thing. Skylights come in all shapes and sized but truly, they are just a hole in your roof with a diffused plastic cover. In saying that there is a beauty to natural light, but you only get what the day brings and if you live in a climate like mine, gloomy days are the norm.
I was very intrigued by the modular design of the Nanoleaf Skylight, the idea of flush-mounted, modern looking ceiling light panels actually appealed to me. I envisioned creating a layout that mimicked the look of a skylight, as each panel already has a diffused cover this look wasn’t too far away.
SETUP
Installation day arrived, and as the qualified electrician worked their magic, yes these should be installed by a licensed electrician, as the main panel is securely hard-wired, and each panel is mounted with wall anchors and screws. Firstly we had to decide on shape, with the starter kit which includes 3 panels, you are limited to designs, as this was a Skylight review 3 panels was all that was all that was needed to create that Skylight look. But you do have the option to add up to 99 panels to the main panel to create whatever design to suite your style. Everything else needed to mount these to your roof is included in the kit besides the tools.
Once installed, the Nanoleaf Skylight proved to be more than just a source of illumination. It offered a range of cool and warm whites from 2700K to 6500K, bringing our living room alive with an array of colour schemes that surpassed our expectations. In fact, my wife was so impressed she created several dynamic light schemes just to watch them play out, and movie night had a totally different vibe.
Transformation
We originally started this journey just wanting a skylight alternative, but with the Nanoleaf Skylight’s ability to display over 16 million colours, coupled with these dynamic scenes really transformed our space with a touch of a button, well a couple of buttons, and added some excitement to our lighting setup.
Integration
You can create a playlist, add favourites and trial the Nanoleaf Magic scenes, we setup a schedule that changed the light depending on the time of day, to mimic the natural clear blue-sky day falling into a soothing sunset followed by a cosmic display. By the time I finished this review, which I took a little longer to make sure this product didn’t lose its original appeal, the Nanoleaf Skylight became a seamless extension of our home’s ambiance, adapting to our moods and preferences with ease, but who got to choose the ambiance setting was the only difficult thing.
Pricing
Pricing, the Nanoleaf Skylight Starter Kit (3 Pack, used for this review) you’re looking at around $469.99, Some may seem this is a little steep for lighting but compared to a skylight, this is a win to Nanoleaf.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Nanoleaf Skylight has not only fulfilled our desire for a skylight but has exceeded our expectations. Its combination of an innovative design, versatile lighting options, and effortless integration into our smart home system, makes it fun to use, the Nanoleaf Skylight definitely gets a big tick.
A big thankyou to our friends at Nanoleaf, looking forward to what they come out with next. I’m sure there’s some bright days ahead.
Specifications
Dimension
- Panel Size – 300*300*55mm
- Mounting Plate – 120*120mm
- AC Lines – 700mm
- Communication Line – 90mm
Weight
- Diffuser – 300g
- Base – 330g
- Mounting Plate – 120g
- AC Lines – 20g
- Communication Line – 2g
Features
- Screen Mirror – Yes
- Music Sync – Yes
- Sync + Yes
General
- Luminous Per Panel – 1400 lumens
- Communication Protocol – Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz b/g/n)
- NOTE: 5GHz networks are not compatible with Nanoleaf products.
- Dimmability – Yes (via Nanoleaf App, Voice)
The Nanoleaf App
- Control via the Nanoleaf App (Android & iOS) for mobile/tablet or the Nanoleaf Desktop App (Windows & Mac).
Compatibility
- Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, SmartThings, IFTTT, Razer Chroma
Colour
- Colour Temperature – 2700-6500K
- Colour Channel Configuration – RGBCW
- Colour Rendering Index (CRI) – 80
Power
- Voltage – 100-240V AC，50/60HZ
- Output Voltage – 18W @Controller, 16W @Expansion
- Standby power – 2.2W@120V ，2.46W@230V
- Use environment
- Lifetime – 25,000 hours
- Operating temperature range – 0℃ to 40℃
- Usage Scenario – Indoor
- IP Rating – IP 20
- Insulation Grade – Ⅱ-insulation
- Mounting Type – Ceiling flush mount
