Window Tinting near you

Natural Resources Canada's window guide says films with a solar-control coating reduce solar gain and help protect carpeting, draperies, furniture and wood from fading. It also cautions that they shouldn't go on every window, because they add very little insulation and greatly cut down on solar gain, which could lead to higher energy bills during the heating season. In much of Canada, the sun coming through south-facing glass is welcome heat for a good part of the year.

That makes solar film a targeted fix rather than a whole-house one. It earns its place on west-facing glass that overheats a room late in the day, on a skylight or sunroom that bakes in July, or in a home office where glare hits the screen. North windows rarely need it, and a south window under a deep overhang may already be shaded when the summer sun is high. Compare films on the visible light, solar heat and ultraviolet figures on the maker's specification sheet, not on how dark they look.

Film changes how a pane heats up. Glass that absorbs more of the sun's energy runs hot in the middle while its edges stay cool inside the frame, and that difference is what cracks glass. NRCan notes a small risk of glass breakage from increased thermal stress, and warns that using these films may void the warranty issued by the original window manufacturer.

Low-e film is the energy-saving member of the family. NRCan lists low-e films, which can be applied to existing glazed units, as an after-market product to consider for improving energy efficiency, and explains that low-e coatings reduce heat loss in winter and heat gain in summer. On the glass, the coating works by reflecting radiant heat back toward the room.

It suits windows that are sound but dated, such as clear double-pane units whose frames and seals are still in good shape, where full replacement isn't justified yet. It won't cure drafts, fogged units or rotted sashes, and it doesn't match a new sealed unit with a factory low-e coating. The thermal stress check applies here too, since the film makes the inner pane run warmer. Some low-e films also cut summer sun, which suits a west window but costs winter heat on a south one, so ask which kind you are getting.

Security film holds a broken pane together, so a thrown stone, a storm or a break-in attempt leaves a cracked sheet in the frame rather than shards on the floor. It slows an intruder rather than stopping one: the glass still breaks, and how long it resists depends a great deal on whether the film is anchored to the frame with a structural sealant or attachment system or simply trimmed short of the edge. It is often chosen for basement windows, sidelights next to a lock and ground-floor patio doors.

Film doesn't change what the building code asks of the glass. Part 9 of the National Building Code, as reproduced in British Columbia's Building Code, calls for tempered or laminated safety glass meeting CAN/CGSB-12.1, or wired glass meeting CAN/CGSB-12.11, in storm doors, in sliding doors at dwelling entrances and in some sidelights, and allows nothing but safety glass in shower and bathtub enclosures. Where the code calls for safety glass, film on ordinary glass shouldn't be treated as a way to meet it; the glass itself is replaced.

Most residential film goes on the inside of the glass, sheltered from weather, where it lasts longer and stays easy to clean. Exterior film is built for the outside face, where it meets ultraviolet light, rain, snow, ice and wind-blown grit, and it generally wears faster. It is used where the inside face can't take film, for example when the inner glass is textured, or where the film maker's guidance allows an exterior product on a sealed unit that an interior one would put at risk.

There is no universal lifespan for either kind. The film maker's warranty for the specific product on residential glass, inside or out, is the best guide, and it usually depends on professional installation.