Clear heat rejection films

[Thirtyfive]

Dont u love it when mannys have to resort to being technical when they get caught out being sleezy?

[RockyDaz]

The LX70 has some great performance figures, kind of a weird colour though and not bloody cheap either.

I do like it though.

[Burns]

Can anyone tell me the best film for a store front, needs to be close to clear but with some good heat rejection?

 

I would want to know the size of the window, thickness of glass, single pane or double pane. The 70% films work great in the right application but can also fall short sometimes and not meet customers demands.

 

Our 70 product is a solid performer on .25" single pane with a 54% TSER but when you apply it to double pane the number goes down to about 49%. Glass thickness and pane spacing will also determine performance. 

 

This decreased performance is due to a lot of the 70% rely heavily on absorption to reduce SHGC. When you put it on a double pane glass less of the absorbed energy is going to be reradiated to the exterior by conduction and convection. 

 

Ok now lets talk visible light. VL is the bad boy of the spectrum in my opinion. It carries more energy than IR although the spectrum is smaller. I have seen 70% films not reduce VL enough to protect agains fading and the VL will still carry a ton of heat. Really the best film is the most reflective and darkest film your customer will allow that  is safe for your particular application. 

 

There is no single film that will work on all applications. They all have their place. You have to take into account substrates, environmental conditions and overall customer demands when selecting the right film. 

[Tintguy1980]

Thank you, Burns.

[TomTint]

Can anyone tell me the best film for a store front, needs to be close to clear but with some good heat rejection?

 

I would want to know the size of the window, thickness of glass, single pane or double pane. The 70% films work great in the right application but can also fall short sometimes and not meet customers demands.

 

Our 70 product is a solid performer on .25" single pane with a 54% TSER but when you apply it to double pane the number goes down to about 49%. Glass thickness and pane spacing will also determine performance. 

 

This decreased performance is due to a lot of the 70% rely heavily on absorption to reduce SHGC. When you put it on a double pane glass less of the absorbed energy is going to be reradiated to the exterior by conduction and convection. 

 

Ok now lets talk visible light. VL is the bad boy of the spectrum in my opinion. It carries more energy than IR although the spectrum is smaller. I have seen 70% films not reduce VL enough to protect agains fading and the VL will still carry a ton of heat. Really the best film is the most reflective and darkest film your customer will allow that  is safe for your particular application. 

 

There is no single film that will work on all applications. They all have their place. You have to take into account substrates, environmental conditions and overall customer demands when selecting the right film.

Very nice.

[vquestfilms.com]

 

Can anyone tell me the best film for a store front, needs to be close to clear but with some good heat rejection?

 

I would want to know the size of the window, thickness of glass, single pane or double pane. The 70% films work great in the right application but can also fall short sometimes and not meet customers demands.

 

Our 70 product is a solid performer on .25" single pane with a 54% TSER but when you apply it to double pane the number goes down to about 49%. Glass thickness and pane spacing will also determine performance. 

 

This decreased performance is due to a lot of the 70% rely heavily on absorption to reduce SHGC. When you put it on a double pane glass less of the absorbed energy is going to be reradiated to the exterior by conduction and convection. 

 

Ok now lets talk visible light. VL is the bad boy of the spectrum in my opinion. It carries more energy than IR although the spectrum is smaller. I have seen 70% films not reduce VL enough to protect agains fading and the VL will still carry a ton of heat. Really the best film is the most reflective and darkest film your customer will allow that  is safe for your particular application. 

 

There is no single film that will work on all applications. They all have their place. You have to take into account substrates, environmental conditions and overall customer demands when selecting the right film. 

 

 

 

The reduced film performance on IGU's is also proportionate to the reduction in SHGC to begin with...

 

True on 70% VLT and fade reduction... I grew up tinting in high altitude and never saw much improvement from those 70% or > films. You had to be 60% or lower... the lower the better. 

[EWF]

I agree on all points.  A few things to add:

 

Taking the VLT down from 70% to 60% will help the customer better achieve their objective with little or no downside.  I found this interesting information sheet published by the glazing industry which shows that the human perception of light levels changes very little in that range.

 

Reference:  http://www.lutron.com/TechnicalDocumentLibrary/Measured_vs_Perceived.pdf

 

To address the original question at the top of this thread, for the most part, selecting a film with the highest TSER amongst all of those under consideration will prevent you from making a gross error in film selection.  I have seen far too many people install clear 2Mil thinking that it would afford much protection. 

 

In those cases where high TSER and high VLR are desired, consider the Luminous Efficacy (or LE) which is the ratio between the VLT and the SHGC.  The higher the better.  Films with an LE greater than 1.0 earn the coveted designation of "Spectrally Selective" products. 

 

There is no shortage of great storefront films on the market.  Some knowledge of product construction is also a benefit as the longitudinal performance of some types will diminish over time.

 

-Howard