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At our old house, we had a large foyer window, did not put in the 3M film until the last two years. The sun was so strong there foyer hardwood was two toned - faded where the sun came in and got the part that was not protected by the rug. At our new place, I want to put in the film as soon as possible, in the rooms that has the strongest sunlight coming in. I wanted to see how many of you all have solar films on your windows, would you recommend getting them in all the rooms or just the ones getting the most sun? Any companies you would like to recommend or avoid?
Be careful about using solar film on double paned windows.
I think solar film, even if not too tinted, can protect furniture against UV damage.
Unless the film is really dark, it won't help too much keeping heat from direct sunlight out.
Don't put dark film on south facing rooms.
Somebody wrote on another forum something about putting tinting on double pane windows that made the windows crack. You might want to look into that. Sorry I cant be of any more help, but a cracked double pane window is so not the look....
We have the film on our first floor windows on the southeast. There are only two windows in our house that face southwest, and they're not filmed (but perhaps should be). We just installed film on the windows of the upstairs bonus room which has windowed walls on the northeast, east, and southeast.
The windows on the first floor were filmed by a previous owner and they used the DIY type and installed the film on the outside. I'm not so sure there's much benefit at all since the UV rays have come through and yellowed the blinds. However, not knowing when the windows were filmed, perhaps the blinds were already yellowed. As for heat, the film does reflect a wee bit of it, but nothing substantial.
When we did the bonus room this summer, we had an installer do it. He used a Madico product and the film was installed on the inside.
And yes, the film, when installed on the inside of the house, can crack a double pane window. It happened to us. The film does void the warranty from the window manufacturer, but we had a warranty from the film company against cracking and they replaced the window.
Do I like the solar film and do I think it reflects heat and UVs? I honestly don't know. We didn't choose a very dark film nor did we choose the film that looks silvery from the outside. Perhaps choosing one of those would have made more of a difference. The only two things I do know are that the films block out some light as if our windows are wearing sunglasses and the only thing I can use to wash the filmed windows is hot water and elbow grease which puts that task even further down on the what-I-don't-like-to-do list.
Just install films that are designed for double-pane windows. there are many available now.
I don't think any are dark films though, right? They only protect (carpets, drapes, etc) from UV. They don't do much for keeping the home cool from radiant sunlight.
Unless the film is really dark, it won't help too much keeping heat from direct sunlight out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles
I don't think any are dark films though, right? They only protect (carpets, drapes, etc) from UV. They don't do much for keeping the home cool from radiant sunlight.
I thought the heat-resistant capabilities of window films came from their reflective (metallic) qualities more than the tinting. Is that correct?
After having furniture, paintngs, and flooring faded due to sunlight in our last house we had tinted film installed in every public room(non bedroom) in our house. We have window coverings in the bedrooms so there was no real need for it there. We did it strictly for the fade factor but if it does help with energy costs that is just a bonus.
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