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Residential window films offer several benefits, including enhanced privacy and reduced glare, but one benefit stands out above the rest. Window films can significantly reduce heat transfer, which makes it easier to keep your home cool and comfortable during the upcoming summer months. Even better, they have high-tech insulating properties that can keep your home warmer in the winter months, too. Here’s how it works. 

Does Window Tint Stop the Heat?

Contrary to what many people believe, residential window film cannot block heat. Instead, it reduces the amount of heat-producing energy that enters your home while blocking potentially harmful UV rays from the sun. It’s important to note that  roughly 83% of the energy being produced by the sun at any given time moves right through a three-millimeter pane window glass. What’s more, 86% of that sunlight becomes heat, which stays inside your home. 

Many of today’s advanced products are capable of blocking 86% of the sun’s energy and more than 99% of the harmful UV rays without blocking any visible light, which means you can flood your home with stunning natural light without fear of warming your space. Clear UV-blocking window film is virtually undetectable by the eyes when professionally installed, but your energy bills will feel the difference. 

Year-Round Energy Savings

The International Window Film Association (IWFA) is a huge proponent of residential window film. Back in 2014, the organization claimed that installing window film was the most cost-effective home improvement initiative in terms of installation costs and energy savings. Studies revealed that the average Florida homeowner with residential window film installed saved about 30% on their cooling costs, which is equal to a 5% to 10% reduction in overall energy costs. 

Residential window film can benefit homeowners in cooler climates, too. The EPA states that windows and doors account for automotive window tinting between 18% and 20% of the average home’s heat loss during winter.  Just as the film can block the sun’s energy and prevent heat transfer in the summer, it can also prevent heat loss through windows in the winter. Essentially, it improves the insulating properties of your existing windows to keep the air heated by your furnace inside where it belongs. Many experts claim that applying a high-quality film to residential windows offers about the same amount of insulation as an additional pane of glass.  

Added Benefits

Aside from keeping your home cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, residential window film offers even more exciting benefits. Because it blocks harmful UV, it reduces the risk for skin damage that can lead to skin cancer down the road. These same UV rays can fade furniture, carpeting, and flooring in relatively short order, too. Installing UV-blocking window film can save you tens of thousands of dollars over the course of its life by protecting the interior of your home from fading. 

Residential window film requires an upfront investment, but homeowners across the country have enjoyed exceptional returns in the form of energy savings year after year. With an average 5% to 10% in household energy savings, it doesn’t take long for window film installation to pay for itself. The other benefits - a comfortable home and a fade-free interior - are simply a bonus.