Window tinting (Raleigh, Cary: sales, house, price)

[aphorista]

I was hoping to get some recent recommendations for Raleigh area companies that provide window tinting. If possible, could you also share what it costs? Thanks!

[RedZin]

Sent you a PM.

[gorilladiver]

I had my car windows tinted at Sun Protection in Cary. They did a great job on the back hatch window on my Camaro.

[CHTransplant]

House windows or car windows?

[RDUBiker]

I had house and car windows done by Formula One on Spring Forest. Not cheap, but quality is outstanding. Many years later, all are holding up and look like new.

[aphorista]

We are wanting to do our house windows, thanks for your responses so far!

[C_Lan]

I had my house windows done with Huper Optiks film. I love the film; its solar characteristics as well as the way it looks looking outside. I highly recommend that you looking into the ceramic and select series while you are scouting products. The regional support via Huper's application engineer is outstanding. However, the (1) local installer of the product has, I feel, horrible customer service. Unfortunately you have to work through them to get the product but it is worth it.


Price, if I recall correctly, was between $11 sq/ft for ceramic and $16 for select DREI installed.

http://www.huperoptikusa.com/ceramic-series.cfm Poke around for the select series.

Generally speaking, you want a high TSER (energy rejected), low SHGC (heat gain coefficient), and high VLT (visual light transmitted). There are benefits to ceramic over dyed films (life of the product, clarity of the product over life, etc), but the cost is higher. Be sure to look at several brands and choose the one that best fits your visual and monetary needs. Any (good) brand is better than none.

Consider darker tint for the areas that get direct sun. For instance, my east facing windows are largely shade-free from the outside. Of course, I have blinds on these windows. I used C30 (darker) for these. The 'darkness' is only noticeable at dusk..the rooms get darker a bit quicker. My west facing and south facing windows get sun from 12:00 and to 3:00. For these windows I chose lighter films after working with the local application engineer and seeing the table that shows the affects of the angle of incidence. You simply don't need darker films here since. Lastly, my Low-E skylights and a decorative east facing window do not have blinds. I went with DREI on these since the VLT and TSER met my needs. My overall point here is that a knowledgeable consumer and sales guy should consider the various options for each side of your home.

[aphorista]

Thanks for taking the time to write such a thorough response. I am going to call the places recommeneded to get some quotes. I feel like I know something now.

[C_Lan]

Be sure to get samples of each film under consideration. Compare them side by side. A good film will make it look like you are looking through expensive sunglasses where visible noise is reduced and colors are enhanced. A bad film will alter colors.