An electric rooflight installed in Suffolk typically runs from around 1,600 pounds for a like-for-like opening roof window up to 4,400 to 5,900 pounds for a large flat rooflight in a new opening, before the electrical connection. The figure is built from five parts: the unit, the actuator, the controls, the electrical work and any structural or kerb work. The electrical connection is quoted separately because it is the part that genuinely varies, from 180 pounds on an open ceiling to 900 pounds or more in a finished room. The premium over a fixed rooflight of the same size is usually 700 to 1,500 pounds, mostly the actuator and the wiring. This page breaks each part out.
The five cost components
1. The rooflight unit
The glazed unit itself is the base cost, the same as it would be for a fixed rooflight of that size and glazing specification. Solar control glass with a low g-value, an argon-filled double or triple glazed sealed unit, and a good U-value all move this figure, and on a south-facing rooflight the glazing does more for comfort than the vent does.
2. The actuator
The opening mechanism is the first thing that separates an electric unit from a fixed one. A chain actuator, the domestic default, is the baseline. A hinge or spindle actuator, needed on large units and required on most AOV work, adds 40 to 90 per cent on the actuator element because it gives a bigger opening angle and holds the sash rigidly. The actuator type is a specification decision, and it is covered on the main electric skylight installation page.
3. The controls
A handset and receiver come as standard. Extras that add cost are a hard-wired or wireless wall switch, a heated rain sensor, which we recommend within a mile of the coast where sea fret is routine, a wind sensor for exposed sites, and a smart-home gateway for app control, which needs its own power and network connection. Battery backup for fail-safe closing is an add-on on a comfort unit and standard on an AOV.
4. The electrical connection
This is the variable that a lot of quotes hide behind the words “supply by others”. We do not. It is quoted as a real figure after we survey the cable route, and it splits cleanly by how finished the room is. The detail of who does what is on the electrical side of the installation page.
5. Structure and kerb
On a flat roof, the insulated upstand or kerb is built to a minimum 150mm above the finished roof, 200mm on exposed coastal sites, and that is part of any opening flat rooflight. A new opening in a structural roof may need trimmers or a ring beam to the engineer’s detail, which is quoted separately once that design exists and is the biggest single variable on retrofit work.
| Job | Typical supply and fit | Days on site |
|---|---|---|
| Electric opening roof window, like-for-like replacement | £1,600 to £2,300 | 1 |
| Solar opening roof window, like-for-like replacement | £1,750 to £2,500 | 1 |
| Electric flat rooflight up to 1000 x 1000mm, new opening | £2,900 to £3,900 | 2 |
| Electric flat rooflight 1500 x 1000mm, new opening | £3,600 to £4,800 | 2 to 3 |
| Electric flat rooflight 2000 x 1000mm, new opening | £4,400 to £5,900 | 3 |
| Electric opening vent added to a roof lantern | £700 to £1,300 | Within the lantern install |
| Solar conversion kit to an existing manual roof window | £520 to £850 | Half day |
| Electrical connection, ceiling already open | £180 to £400 | Electrician’s visit |
| Electrical connection, finished room including making good | £350 to £900 | Electrician’s visit |
The premium over a fixed rooflight
The question people really want answered is what the opening actually costs them over a fixed unit of the same size. Here is the honest breakdown.
| Element | Fixed unit | Electric unit |
|---|---|---|
| Glazed unit and kerb | Base | Base, same glazing |
| Chain actuator | None | Add for the mechanism |
| Controls, handset, rain sensor | None | Add for the control set |
| Electrical connection | None | £180 to £900 by room state |
| Typical total premium | Baseline | £700 to £1,500 plus the wiring |
So the mechanism and controls add roughly 700 to 1,500 pounds, and the wiring adds its own figure on top, from almost nothing on an open ceiling to several hundred pounds in a finished room. That is why the cable route drives the budget as much as the unit does, and why a finished-room retrofit is often where a solar unit comes out cheaper overall, because it deletes the wiring entirely. We work that comparison on the solar rooflight cost answer.
The survey confirms the figure, and it is then fixed. The tables are genuine ranges, not lead-in prices. Once we have surveyed the roof and walked the cable route, you get one written price covering the rooflight and the electrical connection together, and that is what you pay. Prices across every service are on our costs page.
What moves the figure
- Hinge actuator instead of chain: add 40 to 90 per cent on the actuator element, required on most AOV work.
- Heated rain sensor: a modest addition, recommended within a mile of the coast.
- Wind sensor: add for exposed east-facing sites at Felixstowe, Harwich or Frinton.
- Smart-home gateway: add for the gateway plus its power and network connection.
- Battery backup: add on a comfort unit, standard on an AOV.
- Coastal specification, 316L stainless and sealed cable entries: included as standard within a mile of open sea, not an upsell.
- Structural work, ring beam or trussed roof solution: quoted separately once the engineer’s design exists, and the biggest single variable on retrofit.
- Scaffold on two-storey or restricted access: quoted separately.
What a suspiciously cheap quote is hiding
If one quote is markedly cheaper than the rest, it is worth working out where the money has been left out, because the gap is almost always in one of a few places.
- The electrical connection as “by others”. The commonest one. A headline price that excludes the wiring looks keen until the cable route turns out to cost you another 350 to 900 pounds you had not budgeted. We put the connection in the figure as a real number after survey.
- Standard fixings on a coastal roof. Grade 304 stainless instead of 316L saves a little now and stains and seizes within a few winters on a Felixstowe or Harwich roof. Coastal specification is included as standard in our figure, not an upsell.
- A chain actuator where the unit needs a hinge. On a large sash or an AOV, a chain actuator is the wrong tool, and quoting one keeps the price down while under-specifying the job.
- No rain sensor, or an unheated one on the coast. Leaving off the sensor, or fitting a plain pad where sea fret needs a heated one, trims the price and the usefulness together.
- Structural work left out. A new opening that needs trimmers or a ring beam has a real structural cost. A quote that ignores it is quoting a different, easier job than the one your roof needs.
Compare like for like. The only way to compare two quotes fairly is to make sure both include the electrical connection as a real figure, the right actuator, the sensor you need, the coastal specification if you are near the sea, and any structural work. A quote that leaves those to “subject to” is not a lower price, it is a smaller quote. Ours covers all of it in one written figure that is then fixed.
Where the cost sits against alternatives
An AOV smoke vent sits well above a comfort unit because of its control panel, battery backup and commissioning, and that is broken out on the AOV cost answer. If you are deciding whether the unit needs to open at all, the electric versus manual rooflight comparison sets out where the premium is worth paying and where a manual unit within reach does the same job for less. For a fitted price on a standard opening unit, the electric rooflight fitted price page covers it too.
Common questions
How much more does electric cost than a fixed rooflight?
The mechanism and controls typically add 700 to 1,500 pounds over a fixed unit of the same size, and the electrical connection is on top of that, from around 180 pounds on an open ceiling to 900 pounds or more in a finished room. So the opening itself is a few hundred to fifteen hundred pounds, and the wiring is the variable. On a finished-room retrofit, a solar unit often works out cheaper overall because it removes the wiring entirely.
Why is the electrical connection quoted separately?
Because it is the part that genuinely varies, and lumping it into the headline figure would either overprice the easy jobs or underprice the hard ones. On an open ceiling the cable is cheap to run, from 180 to 400 pounds. In a finished room it can run 350 to 900 pounds or more depending on the route. We survey the route before anything is ordered and put a real figure in the quote rather than writing “supply by others”.
Is the price you quote fixed?
Yes. The tables are genuine ranges to set your budget, not lead-in prices. Once we have surveyed the roof and walked the cable route, you get one written price covering the rooflight, the actuator, the controls and the electrical connection together, and that figure is fixed. Every installation carries a 10-year workmanship guarantee.
Get a fixed price for your electric rooflight
Tell us the room, the roof type, the size you have in mind and whether it is a new opening or a replacement. We survey the roof and the cable route and give you one written price covering the unit, the actuator, the controls and the electrical connection, fixed after survey with a 10-year workmanship guarantee.
Request a fixed quote for electric rooflight installation across Ipswich, Suffolk and north Essex, or see our published prices across every service.
Thinking about this job? We survey across Ipswich, Suffolk and north Essex and give you a fixed price before any work starts, with a 10-year workmanship guarantee.