3M Prestige 70/60 vs. Huper Optik

[Guest NCtal]

I've spent a considerable amount of time on here lurking and reading but was hoping to get some comparitive advice on selecting the best film to use for residential use on a two-story wall of windows on a south facing wall. It would appear that many of you are against 3M, but am curious if the same holds true with their Prestige line.

Basically, the effort is to not significantly darken the window - but to reduce the heat and fading effects. Glare reduction is a benefit, too, but not at a cost of significantly darker tint. The benefit of a non-metallic film in the Prestige line is useful in that it won't interfere with cellular signals. Huper is more expensive, but I haven't gotten a grasp of the relative pros vs. cons here and would appreciate any guidance.

(The two dominant and most respected installers in my area are 3M and Huper Optik - hence the comparisons).

Thanks!

[Cuttingedge]

I've spent a considerable amount of time on here lurking and reading but was hoping to get some comparitive advice on selecting the best film to use for residential use on a two-story wall of windows on a south facing wall. It would appear that many of you are against 3M, but am curious if the same holds true with their Prestige line.

Basically, the effort is to not significantly darken the window - but to reduce the heat and fading effects. Glare reduction is a benefit, too, but not at a cost of significantly darker tint. The benefit of a non-metallic film in the Prestige line is useful in that it won't interfere with cellular signals. Huper is more expensive, but I haven't gotten a grasp of the relative pros vs. cons here and would appreciate any guidance.

(The two dominant and most respected installers in my area are 3M and Huper Optik - hence the comparisons).

Thanks!

There is also Geoshield IR-70 with the same numbers. But if you had to make a cjhoice between the other two, I would go with Huper Optik.

[TINT]

if you have 3m or Huper to choose from Huper would be a much better choice to go with.

60-70% with any film on the market is not made to block GLARE but to reduce the amount of HEAT,

huper is known to very good with that, Like Cuttingedge says, if you can find someone who uses Geoshield as well, they're IRis70% blocks 54% of the heat. but you have to make sure its gonna be safe depending on the type of glass that you have.

[Guest vclimber]

I've spent a considerable amount of time on here lurking and reading but was hoping to get some comparitive advice on selecting the best film to use for residential use on a two-story wall of windows on a south facing wall. It would appear that many of you are against 3M, but am curious if the same holds true with their Prestige line.

Basically, the effort is to not significantly darken the window - but to reduce the heat and fading effects. Glare reduction is a benefit, too, but not at a cost of significantly darker tint. The benefit of a non-metallic film in the Prestige line is useful in that it won't interfere with cellular signals. Huper is more expensive, but I haven't gotten a grasp of the relative pros vs. cons here and would appreciate any guidance.

(The two dominant and most respected installers in my area are 3M and Huper Optik - hence the comparisons).

Thanks!

Huper will not interfere with a cell signal. You need to weigh out the operative technology behind each product. Prestige uses and IR absorbing dye and due to its composition, they have to put the color in the hard coat which is a bad place to put color. The film tends to have a blue look to it but the 70 is not as bad as the darker vlt's.

There are two types of Huper films, ceramic and select. Ceramic is non-metal, non-dye, so you will not have the interference or discoloring issues to worry about. The Select Series has the Drei product which will outperform anything in it's class at 70% TSER and does not look very dark.

Geoshield's IRIS 70 gets mentioned a lot even when the thread is asking about other products. The one thing you need to understand when looking at the IRIS 70 spec is that it is taken on 1/4" glass rather than 1/8" glass so it makes it difficult to compare it's performance to similar films like the Prestige 70 or Huper Optik's SECH. I don't know why they don't test the IRIS 70 on 1/8" which is a standard for the industry but that will all be straightened out when NFRC Labels are used in the near future.

[Guest darkdan]

V-Kool?

[Guest vclimber]

V-Kool?

another film to consider..Great film..

Maybe not.

(The two dominant and most respected installers in my area are 3M and Huper Optik - hence the comparisons).

[V4V]

I wrote this a few weeks ago FYI exact subject covered.

http://advancedfilmfl.net/2008/02/17/multi...-solutions.aspx

[Guest darkdan]

V-Kool?

another film to consider..Great film..

Maybe not.

(The two dominant and most respected installers in my area are 3M and Huper Optik - hence the comparisons).

Yeah, I'm not the dominant installer in my area.

Just because others aren't big doesn't mean they shouldn't be considered (as long as they have that second part).

[Guest vclimber]

I wrote this a few weeks ago FYI exact subject covered.

http://advancedfilmfl.net/2008/02/17/multi...-solutions.aspx

"MOF" I like dat!

Good read

[Guest NCtal]

Thanks for all the opinions & info. I understand that opinions are like arses ... but in this case so far all the arses agree! J/K - good info and an interesting read on the blog link.

3M guy came today and Huper Optik guy comes tomorrow (Thursday). I agree that big & dominant are less important than well respected, but in this case I'm leaning on Angie's List since I'm new to the area. 3M guy initially was more than willing to push their Night Vision Films. When I mentioned I wanted to minimize the darkness while maximizing the protection (and not hurt my cell coverage) he moved over to the Prestige line. No high pressure and he seemed to give me good info without bashing the competition.