Window tint that gives you better gas mileage

Now that I got your attention, I've never promoted tint as a gas saver because it never really saved you enough money in gas savings by making your A/C run a bit easier to really make it a selling feature.

Until now???

Gas is going to get Sooooo expensive , I wonder if it's worth looking into to figure out how much money the average driver would save when using his A/C after so many hundreds of hrs of use Thoughts ?

When you think of it..by the time summer is here..gas could be as much as 3 times what it used to be 10 yrs ago...which means whatever money you DID save on the A/C consumpion part of the fuel..it's going to be 3X the savings ...whatever it was..yet tint jobs still cost the same (seperate arguement..we'll stay focused on this ) See where I'm going with this ?

Is it going to now be possible to use it to a tinters advantage as a selling tool ?

Just trying to put a positive spin on the rising cost of fuel..perhaps I'm grasping at straws..but no doubt about it..if the tint stops a certain amount of heat coming in a car, the A/C isn't working as hard, therefore not consuming as much gasoline..but what's the percentage..2% ..4% ?

I wonder if it would even be comparable to the amount you save by using your A/C at highway speeds instead of having the windows down... and vice versa in town. I'd guess it would be less than that but it has to be measurable...

Gila says so on the box.


You have to look at it this way.

Even in a mild climate there are very few days that window tint will make it so you can turn OFF your A/C and have the same comfort. Turning it down doesn't do anything. It has to be OFF.

Also, keep in mind A/C on when at speeds above 45 or so gives you better gas mileage. Well, speeds above 45 mph are also the speed that gives you decent air flow through the car so you're not hot!

So the only time window film will increase gas mileage are the few days that you're going less than 45 mph and the tint provides a level of comfort to turn off the A/C compared to it being too hot without the tint.


I've spent years trying to improve my gas mileage. www.auto-rx.com has been the number one way to improve it on any vehicle with significant miles.

If Gila says it on the box..then it MUST be true

Good point... on any fan setting I guess the compressor kicks in as often as it needs to... ? Maybe only with automatic climate control it would make a difference... if anything... at all...

I don't know about yours, but on my cars ANY fan setting makes it kick in. Even while it's on heat it runs (to keep the seals from going bad in the winter).

The cars with thermostatic controls will benefit the most, yes dan you are right . cheap and old cars like ours , the a/c compressor comes on anytime the a/c is on.

sounds like a job for Mythbusters. I love that show

I actually emailed myth busters about this topic about a year ago maybe if enough people email them about it they will do it

Bit off topic but have they ever done one where they test that elevator myth that if the cable snaps and you plunge to your death but jump at the bottom it's all ok? I know it doesn't work, there's no way. But I know somebody who's arguing to their death that it will work And I'll email a request for the film mileage one... With gas prices the way they are, they should have a themed episode about methods to reduce consumption, see what works and what doesn't

The savings in fuel would be nominal, since the condenser runs pretty much continuous when the ac is on in hot months. It would probably be less than 1%. Test could be done on this, but the engineers who do this sort of thing would probably have done this years ago if they thought it was saving so much as to cause you to add film for this reason. I think we can all agree that the manufacturers would have definately paid for such a test had they thought it would lead to better marketing for auto films.

If it does'nt blow up, cause electric shock, crash, or have a possible comedic tendency (such as eating spicy foods to see what will kill the pain, a classic) they probably won't touch it. Unfortunately, it does not make for good TV ratings.