Thinking about tinting my home

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I have a "cathedral" ceiling (19' tall) in my living room with windows on the higher side of the wall that has no blinds/curtains. We like it the way it is except it gets HOT in the summer and sun bleach on the furniture/floor. We're thinking about asking a professional to tint the windows with no blinds/curtains with a clear film that blocks most UV, infra red (including far infrared), while keeping as much visible light as possible.

I am thinking about Huper Optik's clear series and 3M Prestige, any recommendation or suggestion?

There are about 8 windows total and the sizes are about (in feet) 2x4, 2x4, 2x3, 1x2, 1x2, 2x2, 2x2, 5x5, etc.
 
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You could plant a tree, if there isn't a view of anything in particular out that window. There has been some research that shows that just looking at a tree makes one feel more relaxed. The theory is that early humans still relied on climbing trees to avoid predators. Also the changing light of the sun through a tree in a breeze is pretty nice, especially as the leave change colours.
We have a pair of 100+ year old ash and oak trees outside our bedroom balcony and I find its an interesting view. They also shade the house for most of the morning in the summer, which helps us stay AC free.
 
When we get a house early next year, we were thinking of doing the same as well. It is just going to depend hoe much shade the house gets...
 
tree won't work because they are close to the foundation if plant (not much spaces between houses here), and looking at the blue sky is nice too (hence the film that transmit the most visible light). We just don't want the heat and the sun bleach.
 
You may already have some treatment to the glass... but obviously not enough.

Hollywood tints windows all the time so they can film movies indoors with less dynamic range.

You should get that metallic stuff that Critic tinted his Prius with.
wink.gif
 
I think that 3M has some anti-theft films designed to do exactly what youre looking to do.
 
Go ahead and tint. We have cathedral ceilings as well. Skylights in the top of them. The sun always comes blazing thru them. I tinted them with a dark tint a few years ago. Makes a HUGE difference in our AC bills.
 
In Miami [if you get the afternoon sun] tint is a must in the house or condo..My neighbor has zero tint in her condo and has 275 dollar electric bills in the summer months..My bill is with the tint is between 100-140 bucks a month..BTW dark shades work alot better then blinds when it comes to keeping the heat out from the blazing sun.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino

You should get that metallic stuff that Critic tinted his Prius with.
wink.gif


It is multi-layered ceramic. :p But yes, the film I have on the Prius is the same film used for flat glass tinting on residential and commercial applications.
 
Critic told me last night I should go reasonably dark, and get something similar to his vehicle's tint on my house's windows.

No thanks, I don't want a sky scraper window on my 2/F. I'll stick with something weaker but looks natural, probably TSER of 19-36% (Huper Optik Clear Shield 8 mil or 3M Prestige PR 90 Exterior).
 
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Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: eljefino

You should get that metallic stuff that Critic tinted his Prius with.
wink.gif


It is multi-layered ceramic. :p But yes, the film I have on the Prius is the same film used for flat glass tinting on residential and commercial applications.


Where does the lay-person obtain this type of tint?
 
I owned a residential/commercial window tinting company so feel free to ask me any questions.

Just to give some advice: why go with the 8mill film? Is security an issue? If not that is absolutely the wrong film for your application and very costly as well. Huper does make some of the best film on the market but I would really question the guy who is selling you that. For your application I would recommend Suntek ULV50 it has a TSER of 50 and you can barely tell it is there. Get the installer to tint the smallest window as a sample and live with it for a few days. Any reputable installer will be glad to do this.

Mixologist - I would recommend SunTek, just call them and you can order over the phone, same quality as Llumar but they will sell to anyone. Warning, it is not easy at all for a beginner. Even if you have "easy" windows (ie small ground level) you should order two to three times the amount of film that you think you will need. If you have large windows (anything over 16 sq ft) then go ahead and order 10x the amount of film you think you will need and then call someone to come finish the job when you are almost out of film. The videos on youtube of guys tinting windows have thousands of hours of experience. Also using the wrong film WILL cause your window to crack. The shading and heat absorption from the film cause warm and cool zones on any pane of glass and glass cracks when there is a 50 degree difference on 2 spots on the same pane.

Panda - the glass cracking will not apply to you as the really light films are very safe for almost any application. It is more intended for folks thinking they can put 35VLT film on any window.
 
Barkleymut,

Thanks for the info. I wasn't sold by anyone at the moment, just doing research on what I want. Wife and I both love the living room's sun light as is (double pane window) and the non ground level windows already have shades. Only the higher row windows have no shade and the furniture / floor are sun bleached as a result. We've seen many tint that still look natural, i.e. 50% TLV, but they still make the room darker than what we want. So we are mainly looking at something with the highest TLV while blocking UV, any additional infra red blocked would be bonus.

I don't think the windows I have (all non ground level, one along the stair) are easy to work with as a beginner / amateur. Most of my windows are 2'x3' to 2'x5', one is 5'x5'. So I'll ask someone to do it right. How much is the cost due to labor vs film material? Also what cost difference usually between SunTek, Llumar, 3M, and Huper? Would the labor cost be similar between them as well or just material?

Thanks.
 
Originally Posted By: Mixologist
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: eljefino

You should get that metallic stuff that Critic tinted his Prius with.
wink.gif


It is multi-layered ceramic. :p But yes, the film I have on the Prius is the same film used for flat glass tinting on residential and commercial applications.


Where does the lay-person obtain this type of tint?


Usually most film companies only sell to authorized dealers in order to control the quality of the work that is representing the brand. I would check on Huper Optik's website.
 
Originally Posted By: Barkleymut


Mixologist - I would recommend SunTek, just call them and you can order over the phone, same quality as Llumar but they will sell to anyone. Warning, it is not easy at all for a beginner. Even if you have "easy" windows (ie small ground level) you should order two to three times the amount of film that you think you will need. If you have large windows (anything over 16 sq ft) then go ahead and order 10x the amount of film you think you will need and then call someone to come finish the job when you are almost out of film. The videos on youtube of guys tinting windows have thousands of hours of experience. Also using the wrong film WILL cause your window to crack. The shading and heat absorption from the film cause warm and cool zones on any pane of glass and glass cracks when there is a 50 degree difference on 2 spots on the same pane.


Thanks for the great info Barkleymut!
 
Panda. Film cost for an installer runs from 75 cents per sq ft to over $10 sq ft for some of the best Huper or 3m products. Really good film can be had for $1 per sq ft. Cost to install is around $5 per sq ft
 
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