We love our WA summers, but they can pretty quickly warm up your home, putting extra demand on your air conditioner. The most cost-effective and efficient solution to reduce your household energy bills in summer is solar window film.

What is Solar Window Film?

Solar window film is a thin, transparent multi-layered coating that is commonly installed on the interior or exterior of any glass surface including in homes, office buildings, boats, or cars. It is designed to reduce light, heat, glare, and harmful UV rays from passing through glass windows. At Complete Film Solutions, we only use the best films on the market. All 3M™ Window Films are of high quality and have been around for decades. 3M™ is a company that is constantly innovating to enhance and bring new window films to market.

3M™’s window film series consists of 4 primary ranges:

• Solar only window film.
• Clear safety and security window film.
• Dual benefit combined solar and security window film (great for the peace of mind offered by 3M™ ‘s Ultra Clear Security Film range, combined with the unparalleled heat rejection, privacy, and aesthetics of the tinted options from the 3M™ Night Vision or 3M™ Prestige ranges).
• Decorative and privacy window film.

What Are the Three Types of Sun Rays?

The sun emits rays in 3 primary forms – visible light, ultraviolet radiation, and infra-red rays. Solar window film is the best option to address all three forms of damaging rays from the sun.

All 3M window films, whether clear or tinted, stop a minimum of 99% of UV radiation, with the 3M Prestige series stopping 99.9%. Traditional metal-based solar films, such as the 3M Night Vision and 3M P18 Silver ranges are very effective at stopping solar energy heat-rejecting up to 77% of rays, but metallic films don’t assist against infra-red heat rays.

What is Infra-Red Heat?

Infra-red heat is best described as the heat you feel when you are shaded by the sun. It is the heat that reflects off or radiates through hard surfaces such as paving, walls, or roof structures, and is the heat you still feel long after the sun has set.

Only the newer technology films, such as the 3M Prestige and 3M Ceramic ranges, both non-metallic films, have extra properties that make them effective against infra-red heat. In fact, the 3M™ Prestige is the highest performing solar film, due to its ability to reject a huge 97% of infra-red heat energy. The film also helps to keep your home’s temperature consistent, reducing temperature variations caused by sunny and shaded areas. All of this means there is less demand on your air conditioning system, dramatically reducing your energy costs in summer.

What Are the Benefits of Solar Window Film?

Energy-Efficiency

By preventing excessive heat build-up in summer, solar window film significantly cuts down greenhouse gas emissions and you’ll notice a significantly cooler interior during that summer heat.

UV Protection

Modern window films reject up to 99.9% of UV rays, protecting furnishings, wallpaper, and paintwork from fading, and your loved ones from harmful UV radiation.

You Can Reduce Glare

Excessive glare can make it difficult to focus on highly reflective objects and is a leading cause of eye strain. Darker solar films are very effective at reducing that annoying glare from pools, water views, or other highly reflective objects, and can enhance the viewing of screens of multiple devices in your home.

Maintaining Natural Light/Views

Modern, metal-free window films are able to reject high levels of heat without sacrificing natural sunlight and have very high levels of optical clarity to maintain your beautiful views.

Daytime Privacy

Solar films can provide excellent daytime privacy – making it difficult for others to see your family or belongings through your windows during the day. Increased privacy provides added security and protection against thieves.

How Long Does Solar Window Film Last?

Internally applied solar window film has an expected lifespan of at least 10 to 15 years if well maintained and cleaned in accordance with manufacturer instructions. However, 3M™, the world’s leading solar film manufacturer, offers a lifetime warranty for residential installs for the purchasing homeowner. If your solar window film was to ever fail, peel, delaminate or discolour, even 25 years after initial installation, the cost of removal and replacement with an equivalent new product is covered by 3M™.

Is 3M™ solar window film worth the money?

3M™ window film is a fantastic way to improve your property’s energy rating. With a film solution to any need, whether you wish to retain natural light, improve daytime privacy, reduce glare, reject all forms of heat, improve safety or security, reduce cooling costs, or prevent the fading of floors of soft furnishings caused by UV rays. Therefore, if you are looking for a cost-effective solution rely on 3M™ and Complete Film Solutions.

Contact Complete Film Solutions For 3M™ Solar Window Film

Speak to one of our friendly experts about the different window films available for your home. We are happy to provide a free measure and quote and offer advice on the best solution for your home in Busselton and beyond in the South West of WA.

To arrange a free quote for window film, please call the Complete Film Solutions team on (0417 510 316), send an email to brent@cfsols.com.au, or submit an enquiry today.