As a window tinter by trade, I can assure you, if you’re thinking about getting some window tinting done, whether it be for your home, car or office, then there are a number of things you should know so you make the best decision for your particular environment and circumstances.
The first and undoubtedly the most important thing you need to grasp about window film is the difference between good window film and poor film. Here’s why: Good quality window film will last for the lifetime of your windows but poor quality window film will merely last up to three years, depending on the rigours of your environment. One brand of good quality film is made by Llumar, but there are many other good brands, this is just the most widely distributed quality film.
HOW TO GAUGE THE QUALITY
The only way for a novice to discriminate between premium and bad quality film is price and guarantee. When inquiring with a supplier, ask how long the film is guaranteed for. If it’s less than 12 years keep looking. And also look out for the shady operator who offers you a guarantee on low quality film and hikes the price, to make it appear like it’s good film, but will either not be around, or simply do nothing if you get back to them because your tint has degraded.
Here’s the tip, (and by the way I’ve found this to be true with most things in life), if your only goal in getting quotes is looking for the lowest possible price, then you will naturally gravitate towards the bad product and the real price you pay will be in around 3 years when your windows start to blister, fade and/or peel and just look horrible. Be warned, the cheapest price is usually just a crap product!
BENEFITS OF INSTALLING WINDOW FILM
There are a lot of different benefits you can get from window tinting, and each particular film you use will bring together different advantages, so the first thing you need to be sure of is the most important reason for installing window tint. Lets look at each benefit in a little more detail so you can more fully the most applicable solution for your application.
The core advantages of good quality tint are:
Heat Rejection: Premium window film rejects heat by blocking as much as 73% of Total Solar Energy through windows. That really is cool!
UV Rejection: Premium window film prevents up to 99% of infra red radiation from penetrating your windows. And as a bonus, it also blocks 93% of glare, which massively improves for your view and makes things look cool!
Privacy: The right film will also provide daytime privacy, allowing everyone inside to remain cool, enjoy the views, and at the same time have total privacy from prying eyes during the day.
Impact Safety and Security Films: These specialist films stop glass from fragmenting on impact. Safety films are made to withstand the force of human impact, while security films can withstand an explosion without shattering. Since the collateral damage from accidents where windows are broken comes from shards of glass spraying like shrapnel, or large sections of glass falling like a guillotine, the major problems around safety are avoided. It also stops your windows from being a soft and easy entry point for thieves, because both the effort and noise required to break and enter is so noticeable burglars would rather simply move on in search of an easier, ‘softer’ victim.
Looking Good: Lastly of course there’s the matter of looking good. Good quality window film also makes windows look good; and for many people it’s the aesthetic charm that tinted windows provide that is the main reason for their installation.
SPECIFIC ISSUES RELATED TO CARS & VEHICLES
The next point I want to discuss is relevant to vehicles and it concerns installing the darkest legal tint on your car, truck or work vehicle. Check your local regulations, but where Im from the darkest legal tint legally permitted on a vehicle is one with a VLT (visible light transmission) level of 35%, on all vehicle windows (excluding the front windscreen, which cannot have any window tint with the exception of the visor strip across the top).
So here’s the point. Most cars already have a slight tint in the glass in the front windows, so this should be considered when adding tint to a window. Here’s what I mean.
If the factory glass on your car already block 30% of light, when a film with the “darkest legal tint” of 35% is added to this glass, it will emit only 35% of light into a window that is already only emitting 70% of light, so the final VLT will be impacted by the addition of both tint ratings.
This needs to be respected because if a driver by mistake fails to comply with tinting laws, the result can be a fine. But worse still, if a vehicle is involved in an accident and its illegally dark windows are considered by the court to be a contributing factor, this could mean the nulling of your insurance policy, leaving you exposed to the full financial implications of the accident. And if that’s not bad enough criminal charge could apply if property is damaged or people are injured.
The last thing to remember is that by modifying a vehicle with illegally dark windows, the vehicle is deemed unroadworthy, which means you can’t drive the car again until it has been put through roadworthy testing, in which case the illegal tint will have to be removed. That’s why the combined VLT of both the glass and film really should be considered when you’re selecting the appropriate tint for your car.
What is the critical takeaway from this article? When it comes to window tinting, make sure you use a good quality product and that your installer has the expertise to be able to offer you the right solution for your situation. That way you’ll end up with a range of benefits, instead of a headache.
