Dual Reflective Films

[Tint4Food]

Can somebody school me on these films?  My solargard rep Tim confuses the hell out of me and my Sunscape rep says the totally opposite of Tim.  My understanding of these films are that they are safe for dual pane windows due to the lack of heat absorption caused by two reflective films mirroring each other.  Another benefit is that you are able to see out at night. 

 

Thanks in advance guys!

[Ryker]

Being safe for dual pane is much more than being "dual reflective". Several factors including shading, window coverings, framing, glazing, climate and others all play in.

Most dual reflective will be under 50% total solar absorption so likely will be safe for any dual pane glass.

[Roach]

And a darker duel reflective might be easier to see out of at night, but it's still going to be harder then plain glass. Not as bad as a silver, but still might be a consideration. 

[addicted to tint]

Do neither offer a film to glass chart which you use by providing glass type and condition factors, and this info is what determines which films are safe for your installation?

 

Many manufacturer sales reps have a long learning curve before they understand the business, both from a technical and common sense view point, to be good counselors to their dealers.  They just do not have the window film background to actually understand what they are advising. 

 

The term dual reflective refers to the differing reflective values of the installed film, with the exterior having a higher reflectivity number than the interior.  This type film is different than typical silver or neutral flat glass films.  Silver/neutral films have comparable reflective values on interior and exterior, with darker films having higher reflectivity .  During the day its not a big deal.  The reflectivity is on the exterior.  At night the reflectivity of the film, being the same on the interior, reverses and the glass appears very reflective from inside looking out.  The goal of the dual reflective films are that the interior side of the film is less reflective, through constructing the film with a flatter appearing interior dyed layer, lessening the interior reflectivity and helping with evening visibility through the glass.  Lighting conditions are important for this to actually work.

 

As far as being safe on standard insulated glass, dual reflectives are typically fairly high heat absorbing films, similar to neutral films (in both reflectivity and heat absorption), which do often work out being safe on this glass type, but not always.  Thus the importance of a film to glass recommendation chart.  

[Tintguy1980]

Safe for dual pane and dual reflective shouldn't necessarily be used in the same sentence. One particular VLT in dual reflective series (25% in LLumar DR25 as exampled) may, on paper with low absorption number look safe but, isn't all that safe for dual pane... It borders on safe, unsafe and all you need is one additional condition factor to trip it over the edge.

 

There is a fine line that gets crossed between what gets absorbed and what gets reflected that makes the difference in that VLT. If it were moved to 20%, you may find it to be safe for dual pane... if you move it closer to 30%, the same result. At 25% it just has performance characteristics that give it a dicey use reputation. Used on clear dual pane with no shading, not elevations, no scratches or edge chips, no internal window dressing, etc., you're good to go,

 

Dual reflective simply means each opposing surface carries a different reflective value than the other aka, interior reflectivity, exterior reflectivity. By what spread or difference between the two numbers makes it a dual reflective, who knows? 1 percentage point? 5 percentage points?

 

 

[TomTint]

DR film in the 20-35% vlt range is by FAR, our biggest glass breaker. And forget about being able to see out at night. We won't use DR films any longer in those vlt 's unless it's on tempered.

[Tint4Food]

Thanks guys!

 

Truly appreciate the info.

[Tintguy1980]

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[Roach]

[FilmTack]

On 2016-9-11 at 9:48 PM, smartie2shoes said:

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Another point to share, 

Given the same tint, the risk is higher when the film is applied on exterior. This is why some carefuly manufactuers reverse the metallized side for the interior and exterior versions. However, a fair share out ain't doing so and they are just focusing on weatherability (eg. enhanced and reversed UV protection for exterior films). 

We have to bear in mind that most exterior film projects are dealing with old buildings/windows so the risk of glass failure is higher, so every factor counts.