What INTEGRA means on a VELUX window
INTEGRA is the name VELUX gives to its motorised roof windows: the same centre-pivot skylight you would fit by hand, with a motor, a control unit and a rain sensor built in at the factory. It comes in two versions, electric (mains powered) and solar (battery powered, charged by a small panel on the window).
From inside the room an INTEGRA window looks almost the same as a manual one. The frame, the glazing options, the flashings and the internal lining are all shared with the manual range, so a VELUX INTEGRA electric or solar window sits in the roof at the same depth and with the same sightlines as its manual neighbour. The difference is at the top of the sash, where a slim motor housing drives a chain that pushes the sash open and pulls it shut, and in the way you control it: a wireless touch pad or wall switch instead of a bar handle.
That matters for two reasons. First, you can mix manual and motorised windows on the same roof without the row looking uneven, which is useful when only the high windows are out of reach. Second, choosing INTEGRA does not change the size, flashing or glazing decisions. Those follow the same logic as any other VELUX, and the guide to VELUX window ranges compared covers the finishes and opening types the motorised versions are built on.
What changes is how the window is used day to day. A manual skylight gets opened when someone remembers and can reach it. A motorised one can be opened for ten minutes on a warm evening, shut from bed, or closed automatically by the rain sensor while you are out. For a room with high glass that is the difference between a window that ventilates and one that stays shut all summer.
The electric version: mains power and where the cable runs
The electric INTEGRA window runs from a mains supply wired to the window's own control unit, so it needs a cable route from a fused spur to the frame. That is easy in a room that is being built or stripped back and harder in one that is already plastered and decorated.
The cable usually runs through the roof void or within the insulated lining around the window, then down to a switched fused connection unit or into the lighting or socket wiring, depending on how the electrician designs it. In a new loft conversion this is simple: the walls and ceilings are open, the electrician is already running circuits, and the cable for each window is just one more run on the drawing. We plan the window positions early so the electrician knows where the supplies need to arrive.
In a finished room the route is the question. A window high in a vaulted kitchen ceiling, above a finished plastered slope, may need the ceiling opened to get a cable to it, or a surface route that nobody wants to look at. That is where the solar version tends to make more sense, and it is the main reason the two versions exist side by side.
Once the supply is in, the electric version has one clear advantage: it never runs out of charge. It opens and closes as often as you like in any season, and it can drive an electric blind from the same supply. If you plan to use the window heavily, for example opening it every morning and closing it every night in a bedroom, the mains version gives you that without a second thought about battery life. During a power cut the window simply stays where it is until the supply returns, so it is worth leaving it closed if you are going away.
The solar version: a panel, a battery and Cambridge winters
The solar INTEGRA window carries a small photovoltaic panel on the top of the frame that charges a battery, which then drives the motor. No mains cable reaches the window, so it can be fitted into a finished room with no wiring work inside at all.
That is the whole appeal. A solar skylight can go into a loft room that was decorated years ago, a stairwell with a tall painted slope, or a vaulted extension where the plasterer has long gone, and the only work inside the room is the window lining and the trims. The wireless control pad is paired to the window and you are done.
The trade-off is energy. The panel only charges in daylight, and the battery holds enough for a sensible amount of use, not unlimited operation. Cambridge helps here more than many places: the city sits on flat land with a wide, open sky, so a roof slope sees the whole sky with no hills to shade it, and even a north slope gets useful diffuse daylight on the panel. Winter is still the limit. On a run of short, grey December days a solar window that is opened and closed many times a day may run low, and it will recover as the days lengthen. Used normally, for daily airing and closing when it rains, it copes.
The slope matters a little. A south or west facing panel charges quickest; an east slope gets its sun in the morning; a north slope relies on diffuse light and charges more slowly. None of these rule solar out, but on a north slope in a room where the window will be opened constantly, we would talk through the mains option before deciding. The light plan in your quote records which way each window faces and why we chose electric or solar for it.
The rain sensor and what happens when the weather turns
Every INTEGRA window has a rain sensor on the outside of the frame. When raindrops land on it, the window closes itself, so an open skylight left for the afternoon does not let a shower into the room.
The sensor works by detecting water on its surface, and it reacts to the first drops rather than waiting for a downpour. That is the feature that changes how people use a high window. Without it, a manual skylight in a room you are about to leave has to be shut first, just in case. With it, you can leave the window open for the afternoon, knowing it will close itself if the weather turns.
A few points are worth knowing so the sensor behaves as you expect:
- It responds to water, not to wind. It will not close the window on a dry, gusty day, so a window left wide open in a storm with no rain is still open.
- Heavy dew on a clear, still night can wet the sensor and close the window, which is the sensor doing its job rather than a fault.
- Rain sensing depends on the window having power, so a solar battery that has run completely flat, or a mains window during a power cut, cannot close itself until power returns.
- The ventilation flap at the top of the sash is separate from the motor, so background ventilation through the flap carries on with the sash closed.
The ventilation flap is the same one found on manual VELUX windows, and the answer on whether VELUX windows have trickle vents explains how it provides background ventilation.
Controls, programmes and blinds on the same pad
INTEGRA windows are operated by a wireless touch control pad, and they can also be run from wall switches. The pad can hold several windows and blinds, group them, and run simple timed programmes.
The control pad talks to the window over the io-homecontrol radio system, which is also used by electric and solar VELUX blinds and shutters. In practice that means one pad can open the left window, close the right one, lower both blackout blinds and raise the awning blind, either individually or as a group. Wall switches suit a room where you want a fixed control by the door or the bed, and they sit happily alongside the pad.
Programmes are where the controls start to earn their keep. A simple morning setting might open the window for fifteen minutes and raise the blackout blind at a set time; an evening one might close everything at dusk. The timings are yours to set and change. For more than that, such as windows that open on temperature, humidity or carbon dioxide levels, VELUX offers a separate sensor system covered in our guide to VELUX ACTIVE indoor climate control, which works with INTEGRA windows rather than replacing them.
Blinds are the other half of the light plan, and on a motorised window they follow naturally. An electric window can drive electric blinds from the same supply; a solar window pairs with solar blinds that carry their own small panel. On a south or west slope the external awning blind is the one that does the most for summer heat, because it stops the sun before it reaches the glass. The VELUX blinds guide sets out which blind suits each slope and room.
Electric or solar: how the two compare
The two versions open, close and sense rain in the same way. The choice comes down to whether a cable can reach the window easily, how often the window will be used, and which way the slope faces.
| Point | Electric | Solar |
|---|---|---|
| Power | Mains, wired to window | Battery, charged by panel |
| Wiring inside | Cable route needed | None |
| Best timing | New loft or strip-out | Finished room |
| Heavy daily use | No limit | Fine, lower in deep winter |
| North slope | No difference | Slower charging |
| Rain sensor | Yes | Yes |
Put simply, electric is the natural choice when the room is being built and the cable costs almost nothing to include, and solar is the natural choice when the room is finished and opening it up would cost more than the difference between the windows. Between those two cases, the deciding factor is usually use: a bedroom window that opens and closes twice a day, every day, on a north slope leans towards mains; a stairwell window that opens a few times a week leans towards solar.
Cost follows the same pattern. The window prices differ, the electrical work differs, and the making good differs, so the only fair comparison is on your room. The answer on what affects the cost of fitting a VELUX window lists the factors, and our costs page gives general ranges for the wider work.
Rooms where a motorised skylight earns its place
A motorised window is worth its extra cost when the window is out of easy reach, when it needs to open and close on a rhythm, or when the room will overheat without regular venting. Each of those is a light and air question as much as a convenience one.
Vaulted kitchens and extensions. A rear extension on a Romsey or Mill Road terrace often has a pitched roof with windows high above the worktop. Those windows light the deep back of the house, which is exactly why they are there, but they also sit at the top of a room with an oven and a hob. Warm, damp air collects under the ridge. A window you can open from a pad clears it quickly; one that needs a long pole tends to stay shut.
Loft bedrooms on a south or west slope. These rooms get strong sun from late morning into the evening in summer, and heat builds under the roof. Opening the window at the highest point after sunset lets that heat leave, and closing it on a timer or from bed is easy. Paired with solar control glass and an external blind, a motorised window is one of the most useful things in the room. The answer on whether VELUX glass reduces heat from the sun explains the glass side.
Stairwells and landings. A tall stairwell under a roof window is a natural chimney: open the top and warm air leaves the whole house through it. The window is usually well out of reach over the stairs, so electric or solar operation is the only way it gets opened regularly.
Bathrooms. A window over a bath or shower is awkward to reach with wet hands or with a bath in the way. A motorised window can air the room after a shower and close itself later. The answer on fitting a VELUX window over a shower covers glass and moisture; any electrical work in a bathroom also has to respect the zones around the bath and shower.
New homes with a lot of glass. Houses at Eddington, Trumpington Meadows and Great Kneighton are well insulated and airtight, which keeps heat in during winter and can hold it in during a hot spell too. A roof window that opens on a programme helps a well sealed room shed heat in the evening.
Where none of these apply, and the window is at head height in a room you walk past every day, a manual window does the job well and costs less. We would say so in the light plan.
Fitting an INTEGRA window, Building Control and the electrics
Installing an INTEGRA window follows the same steps as any VELUX: opening the roof, fixing the frame, fitting the flashing, insulating and lining. The motorised part adds pairing and, for the electric version, the supply.
The window goes into the roof with the same insulation collar, underfelt collar and flashing kit as a manual one; the guide to VELUX flashing types covers the flashing choice by roof covering, and the VELUX window installation process walks through each stage. For the electric version the supply is brought to the window before the lining closes it in. For the solar version there is nothing to wire: once the window is in, we check the panel is clear of shade, pair the window and any blinds to the control pad, run it through a full open and close, and test the rain sensor with water.
Building Control depends on the roof work, not on the motor. A new roof window, or a change that affects the structure or thermal performance of the roof, is usually notifiable under the Building Regulations, and where the work is notifiable we handle the notification. A like-for-like replacement often is not, but it still has to meet the current regulations. The electrical side is separate. Under Part P, some domestic electrical work in England is notifiable, notably a new circuit or work in a bathroom's special locations, and that is dealt with by the electrician who does it. A solar window avoids this entirely because nothing is wired.
Planning is unaffected by whether the window is motorised. The same permitted development rules apply as for any roof window, including the limit on how far it projects from the roof plane, and the answer on planning permission for VELUX windows explains them. In a conservation area the conservation version of the window may be the better starting point, with motorised operation added where the range allows.
If you already have manual VELUX windows, you may not need new ones. Many current-generation centre-pivot windows can take a conversion kit that adds a solar or electric motor and a rain sensor, and the answer on whether a VELUX window can be made electric after fitting sets out the checks. Where the windows are older, replacing them with INTEGRA versions is often the cleaner route, as the guide to replacing an old VELUX window explains.
Questions people ask
These are the points that come up when people are choosing between a manual, electric and solar skylight for a Cambridge roof.
Can I still clean the outside of an INTEGRA window?
Yes. INTEGRA windows are centre-pivot, so the sash can still be turned round to bring the outer glass inside for cleaning, following the procedure in the window's instructions for disengaging the motor. We show you how at handover, and the answer on opening a VELUX window fully to clean it covers the general method.
Does a solar skylight work on a north facing roof?
It does. The panel charges from daylight as well as direct sun, and Cambridge's open, flat landscape gives even a north slope a wide view of the sky. It charges more slowly than a south slope, so in a room where the window will be used many times a day through the winter we would weigh up the mains version as well.
Will the window close if I am away and it rains?
Yes, as long as it has power. The rain sensor closes the window at the first drops. A mains window cannot close during a power cut, and a solar window cannot close if its battery is completely flat, so for a long trip it is sensible to close the windows before you leave.
If you are planning a loft, an extension or an upgrade and want to know which windows should be motorised and which way each one faces, book a light survey. Your written light plan covers position, glass, blinds and power for every window, and our VELUX window installation page covers the wider service.
