Commercial Window Tinting

Commercial window tinting is a job best left for a professional window tinting service. When asked by their clients, some general contractors attempt to install graffiti, frosted – even energy saving films without outsourcing an experienced company.

Commercial window tinting requires skilled installation if you expect it to look good for years to come. Most of the time an inexperienced general contrator will either give up, make an excuse about the difficulty of working with the product, or believe the installation looks good only to find that it begins to bubble or peel a month down the road. While these contractors don’t do these things on purpose, you have to understand that their ultimate goal is to get the job done at the lowest price possible.

Individually wrapped do-it-yourself residential film rolls are probably the main culprit of  unjust confidence. Some people assume that since you can find DIY films at your local home improvement store that installation is a snap. The truth is while those films are designed to be easier to install, this ease of use is limited to their resistance to creasing. The windows are just as difficult to properly prep and nothing but a skilled installer can minimize airborne dust and window frame debris from getting under the film. Furthermore, DIY films look horrible when compared to professional films, are not designed for commercial application and don’t come with a guarantee or warranty.

Hire a service! Most commercial window tinting can be professionally installed for a price that barely exceeds the cost of the material itself.

What Clear Window Films Can Do

With the hit the economy has taken, the use of  “spectrally-selective” films has seen a dramatic fall. However, the benefits of such films remains unchanged. Such films block UV light (99%), reduce solar heat and heat build-up, retain heat in winter, all while only reducing the visible light by an amount undetectable to the human eye.

Most commonly used in high-end installations, these films were designed to offer the most heat rejection and fade protection possible, without changing the view through the window.

The industry leaders of these films are V-Kool (V-Kool 70), 3M (Prestige 70), Vista (VS70) and Panorama (HiLite 70). This technological breakthrough was originally developed by V-Kool  in 1991, and still manufactures the highest performing spectrally-selective film in the world.

3M had the goal of making spectrally-selective films cheaper, and in some ways, succeeded. There are a couple of caveats: First, the optical clarity, or distortion impediment of Prestige 70 is moderate and adds a waviness to the glass. Some would argue that a film that costs $8-$12/sqft shouldn’t distort the view at all. As for Prestige 70 heat rejection, it is not constant, and on a double-pane installation will only perform between 44%-50% heat rejection, depending on the angle of the sun. Still, for those who want to save a couple bucks per foot, this is a way to go.

Panorama HiLite 70’s distortion impediement is undetectable, and its heat reduction performance on double-pane glass is 51%, but its quality that comes at a higher price than Prestige 70 ($10-14/sqft).

V-Kool 70 ($10-$14/sqft) distortion impediment is undetectable, and offers the highest heat rejection in its class on double-pane glass (56.2%).  

The manufacturer names and product ID’s are as follows (In order of performance
from best to worst):

V-Kool: VK70 | 56.2% TSER | 64.4% VLT

Panorama: HiLite 70 | 51% TSER | 64% VLT

Vista: VS70 | 48% TSER | 61% VLT

3M: Prestige 70 | 44% TSER | 61% VLT

(TSER: Total Solar Energy Rejected)

(VLT: Visible Light Transmission)