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I have just finished renovating my house and am now considering adding UV film to some of my windows (those that catch the most sun). On paper, they sound like a great solution as they reduce the heat entering the house and furniture fading but I have not had any experience with them. I would hate to see my house looking like those crappy cars with the window tint full of bubbles.

Does anyone have any practical experience with window tinting? Are they good? What issues do I need to be aware of?

I live in Melbourne (Aus) so summers hit 40 degrees but winters rarely drop below 5 degrees.

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I'm not trying to be funny here, but how do ultra violet filters prevent heat (infra red radiation) being transmitted through glass (which is usually opaque to UV)? – ChrisF♦ Nov 6 '11 at 20:41
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@ChrisF - presumably they filter both UV and IR. That is just a guess. One product (windowenergysolutions.com.au/why_use_film1.html) claims 80% heat and 99% UV blockage. – dave Nov 6 '11 at 23:10
Installing new PVC windows already contain a gas to bounces most of this radiation ub(a)/uv(b) light away.(technically only last for 10years) Tinting windows with self stick on filters never heard of that before. Grey tint just blocks out some light but the amount of UV that comes through is still 100%. Maybe buy some glass that is UV resistant. (You know like sunglasses's glass..) – ppumkin Nov 17 '11 at 15:14
Not a direct answer, but have you considered awnings as an option? – DA01 Mar 12 '12 at 20:09
If you're already adding window films, look into the intrusion-resistant ones instead. They're surprisingly cheap, and will often include the filters you're wanting anyway. – insta Mar 12 '12 at 22:16

3 Answers

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This is not meant to be a complete answer, but might help with your understanding of it. My understanding of the physics of windows is as follows -

Nearly all radiation (visible, UV, infrared, every other type too) that travels from outside the house into the house and is absorbed (not reflected back out again) is converted into heat. I would expect that exceptions (such as the energy from UV light causing a chemical change, such as when it fades your couch, or waves that induce a current in a conductor) are relatively negligible.

This means any radiation that can be reflected from the window to prevent it entering the house reduces the heat load. Also, if the radiation is absorbed into the window glass (eg through tinting it), then some of the heat from the window glass will be lost to the outside (through both conductance/convection and some radiated heat) which is an additional benefit.

A heated window pane would like lose more heat to the outside than the inside because the wind would help keep the temperature difference between the glass and the adjacent outside air larger than the temperature difference between the glass and the inside air.

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Millions of cars have window tinting that looks great. Just be careful to get the bubbles out when you install it. Also consider that tinted films absorb heat, which can aggravate the usual problem with double pane glass when one pane expands and contracts more than the other.

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I work for a Home Builder and have learned that adding these films will void your window warranty. So you may want to check into this first.

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