Mention window film applications to some people and they sometimes have outdated impressions of the technology. When this is the case, you will typically hear something about a botched DIY (Do-It-Yourself) car window tint job that turned purple and bubbled up or something to that effect. You will hear fears that clear films “really aren’t clear,” turn yellow in the sun, or peel away over time, none of which are actually true.
Here are four of the more common misconceptions people have about window film:
- Professionally-applied film is the same as bad DIY jobs: This is perhaps the biggest misconception of all. The horrible tint jobyou and your uncle did on your 1983 Mustang is not representative of the state of the industry in 2017. Today’s window films, especially when applied correctly by professionals such as Signals Defense in Owing Mills, MD, are invisible to the eye where clear and where tinting or decorative window film is concerned, can be absolutely beautiful. Professional installation is key when working with window films, as there is much to know in order to get it right.
- The etched glass look is expensive: To be sure, the actual glass etching process is laborious and expensive, but very few businesses or consumers use real etched glass today. Most of the etched glass designs you see today are created using high-tech decorative window films, which are dramatically less expensive than etching glass, easily changed, and virtually indistinguishable from etched glass itself. Frost glass is also created with frost film, to great effect.
- There’s nothing you can do about energy loss from windows: This one could not be more wrong. One of the biggest parts of our business is in solar and energy films that keep heat in when it’s cold and keep heat out when it’s hot. Even historic buildings such as the Empire State Building, the IdeAS Z2 Design Facility in San Jose, Painters Hall in Salem, Oregon, and the Wayne Aspinall Federal Building in Washington, DC, have recently had energy management window films installed for tremendous energy savings.
- Security means windowless buildings: While this may have been the case 30 or 40 years ago, today’s high-security buildings can be protected extremely well using window films. The intelligence and military community has been using radio frequency (RF) window films to keep hackers and spies out of their facilities for years, but in 2007 these technologies were declassified for use in the civilian sector. Today Signals Defense installs RF window film on many commercial buildings throughout Maryland and the mid-Atlantic states, and increasingly finds residential clients interested in the technology as well. No one wants to be vulnerable to hackers, and the proliferation of wireless technologies leaves our buildings open to attack without RF security measures such as window film.
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If you’re thinking about any decorative film, custom print glass, energy or security solutions for your commercial or residential building, contact the team at Signals Defense.