Tanna Friday
Editor
There are a number reasons that people choose to have their car windows tinted. Window tinting can enhance the look of any vehicle, and according to Matt Russell, owner of Tint Pro, there are many tints available to suit anyone’s tastes. But did you know that window tinting serves more purposes than making your car look nice?
Tint Pro, located off Gadsden Highway behind Mazda, has serviced the surrounding community for four years with a number of needs and benefits. “We install window film for automotive, commercial and residential,” said Russell.
“First of all, the most important benefit of window tinting is ultra violet (UV) light protection-99.99% UV protection,” he continued. “All of our films are approved by the Skin Cancer Foundation.
They do a tremendous job on protecting your skin, upholstery in vehicles, interior in homes, hardwood floors, couches, drapes, dining room tables, antiques, paintings on the walls, things like that, from fading over time.
So protection is really the name of the game. In the past, when tint was all about style and good looks, those are just simple bonuses at this point in time.”
The next benefit Russell points out is heat rejection, which in short, reduces the amount of heat
that enters your vehicle or home.
“This method has come a long way in the last few years due to technology,” said Russell. “The older films absorbed 20-30% of the solar energy, whereas the modern films include a nano-ceramic technology and they block the sun’s infrared spectrum of light, which is the sun’s invisible radiation responsible for half the heat you feel on sunlight.”
So just by blocking that one spectrum of light, Russell adds that tinting a window, a vehicle or residential, offers a minimum of 50 percent heat rejection. That’s performance of how much heat it can block,” said Russell. “In return, your vehicle does not get as hot.”
Heat is also responsible for about 40 percent sun damage, so that is another bonus back to the protection Russell says. “In a home, you can block anywhere from 50 to 70 percent of heat coming into a house window,” said Russell.
He explained that state-of- the-art window films, like LLumar, can reduce harmful ultraviolet light by up to 99 percent and heat gain up to 59 percent, while eliminating glare. More than half of the sun’s energy is infrared radiation and that is what makes that house hot during the warmer months.
All solar energy must either be reflected, absorbed, or transferred. It is obvious that clear glass does not reflect much solar energy, however, window tint reflects both visible light and infrared heat.
“You probably notice that in a home air vents are near the windows,” said Russell. That is on purpose. The air conditioner is matching the heat that is coming through. There is a substantial energy reduction in residential window tinting. Homeowner can save up to 40 percent on cooling costs and commercial properties can save up to 15 percent in annual energy savings.”
For more information, call Tint Pro at 205-948-TINT (8468)