How about hinged skylight covers, Home Made Of Course

[driz]

This is my first time in here so I am not sure where to put this question but here goes. I live in Northern NY and have a house with 6 large Velux skylights. We like the light but there are times like in winter and summer when they let in a pile of heat and cold. They are each in individual boxes in a slightly vaulted celing . The skylight openings measure about 23 by 60 roughly.
What I want to do is put in some type of thin light hinged insulating cover that I can fold up and latch or velcro in the vertical position along the longest wall of the tunnel. It will just fit about perfectly. I plan on using a piano type hinge along the bottom edge. Question is this, what can I use for the panel that is light enough and thin enough yet still strong enough to fasten the hinge to.
Since I haven't seen any of these anywhere and its entirely my own creation I sure would appreciate any pointers on pulling this off. Any links or articles would be greatly appreciated. Gotta keep those heat and cooling bills down some way and curtains probably aren't going to work too well.

[HayZee518]

you might try a silvered mylar blanket although without searching - I don't know where you'd find it. I'm also in northern ny up near canada.

[driz]

I probably would go broke using something that exotic. I thought that was the super flexible stuff like the stuff they found at Roswell and thought it was spaceship hull. Don't they make some sort of board that is stiff enough yet has enough guts to screw or bolt into to mount to the hinge? I tried it with a piece of 1" Celotex and it was a bit flimsey to mount permanently without making some sort of clamping mechanism. I tried a piece of 1/2 ply but its too heavy.

[tom_matthews]

What about HDF (high-density fiberboard)? Would that be too heavey? I know it's strong enough, can be painted to suit, and comes in a thickness of about 3/8". It's the same material often used for pegboards, only without the holes.

[driz]

You know something I never thought of that stuff> Question is would it hold its shape better than and be lighter than say 1/4 " Luan or cheap paneling. I haven't gotten started with that project yet but now I have something else to consider. Thanks for the idea.

[phantom]

I made something very similar to keep the light out of my son's room when he was a baby. I used a sheet of Owens Corning Foamula 250 insulation. It comes in a 4' x 8' sheet about 1/2" thick and is very light. Bought it at Home Depot. It has tongue and groove edges. Cut the size you need with the T&G seam located down the center. The T&G allows you bend the cover slightly for a tight friction fit. I added a bit of fishing line to pull it down into place - the fishing line practically disappears. My wife wrapped the insulation in fabric to hide the loud pink color. Worked well to block light and cold. I kept in place for a while - you will have to modify to open and close it.