South facing window tint

Recoil · May 1

Hi folks,

I have south facing double pane windows that get a lot sun here in Las Vegas. Those windows get extremely hot and I want to get them tinted. I do not mind if they are black, mirror, dark, light, etc. I am looking for performance blocking the heat without doing a complete blackout.

Initially I was thinking of going with 3M Prestige 70 since 3M is the only reputable brand I could think but I did read a few posts here in the forum and I see that there is other brands with perhaps better products like “Huper Optik”.

I have not reached out to installers yet since I wanted to research what would be the best product for my needs, could you folks recommend a product that would fit the bill? Thank you!

Tintguy1980 · May 1

3 hours ago, Recoil said:

Hi folks,

I have south facing double pane windows that get a lot sun here in Las Vegas. Those windows get extremely hot and I want to get them tinted. I do not mind if they are black, mirror, dark, light, etc. I am looking for performance blocking the heat without doing a complete blackout.

Initially I was thinking of going with 3M Prestige 70 since 3M is the only reputable brand I could think but I did read a few posts here in the forum and I see that there is other brands with perhaps better products like “Huper Optik”.

Personally knowing what it's like in Vegas when it's hot, I would stir clear of any film TSER performance value less than 60% or a solar heat gain value greater than 40%. Prestige does not fit this and would be a big waste of good money.

Huper Optiks' ceramic products have high solar energy absorption rates, so in hot environments these kind high absorptive films run counterintuitive to the use of the product while using air conditioning to cooling the interior. High absorption on the inside pane, where most films are applied will radiate that absorbed heat toward the room. Outside breezes across the exterior surface of the window will not be as effective in cooling down the interior than say a low absorptive film, high solar reflection film product.

In this case, low absorptive/high solar reflection products should be a go-to such as: 3M's Night Vision15 or NV25, Vista Film's Dual Reflective18 or DR 28, LLumar's DR15 or DR25 (which closely matches 3M NV), or Madico's Optivision in and around the same number assignment. The numbers assigned to films represent the visible light transmission of the product.

When a dealer comes out to assess and likely have and leave samples, use the samples as sunglasses by wrapping over your eyes a viewing out and in the room. This gives you a more precise idea of what the film will look like once applied. A small sample placed on the glass will always appear darker than having the entire panel tinted.

Good luck.

Edited May 1 by Tintguy1980

Recoil · May 1

Thank you very much Tinguy1980, I was just about to mess it up. I appreciate your insight!

I would have never guessed that the products I was thinking about "run counterintuitive to the use of the product" for the excessive heat.

Frankly it does get so hot in that room that at this point I am less about how it looks and more about performance, during summer the AC never stops running in that room, electricity prices here in Las Vegas is up there hence I am trying to invest in ways to cool that room down.

Once more thank you for your help I do appreciate it.

Tintguy1980 · May 1

Forgot to mention; if your house is under HOA, you may have to check in with them. Some, eh hem, many seemingly shy away from having a reflective look to the glass. A dual reflective with a visible light transmission of 35% (ex: NV35) would likely be more palatable to HOA, but not so happy for the owner.

Your position to take with them is: The higher the reflectivity of a film product, the better when dealing with desert heat.

There exists a necessary (physics) compromise in every window film transaction. Can't please all parties.

Glad I could help educate.

Recoil · May 2

Once more thank you, you are the best

I been looking at the specs for the products you mention and info into tinting a window.

I recently did wrap my wife's car and it turn out really nice, for what I have been seeing tinting a window is similar and I am tempted to do it myself.

With that said I can't find any place to buy the products you mention, I found quite a few films in Amazon but they seem sketchy.

There is other web sites selling films but the ones you mention I can’t locate, anyhow is there any place where I can buy this products?