Everyday tint companies are asked the question, “how dark will my tint need to be to block out the heat”? To understand how this works, we need to point out the main components of heat: Ultraviolet rays (UV) and infrared heat (IR) that you can feel, and then the visible light that you can see. Window films work by blocking some or all of the UV, IR, and visible light to reduce the amount of heat that enters your vehicle or home.
With older, more traditional films you will find higher heat rejection does come with the darker shades. These films work to block only the UV and visible light to reduce the incoming heat. Dyes are usually added to the film during the production process to block additional visible light and give a dark appearance. You can obtain decent heat rejection with these films and they have been used on the market for years.
However, newer technology films have an additional layer of an IR coating built into them. With the additional IR coating, the films now block out the UV, visible light, and infrared heat. This allows it to not only reject greater amounts of heat, but also eliminates the need for the film to be really dark to get that max heat rejection. These newer technology films come in the same shades as traditional films, as well as coming in virtually clear shades as light as 80% & 90%. These virtually clear films will block equal to or more than a traditional limo shade. Look at it this way – with IR coated films, a standard 35 shade of film will gain an additional 10-20% overall heat rejection rating versus a good quality traditional film of a similar shade. This means for the same aesthetic look that you are used to having on your vehicle, you and your family will now be much more comfortable in your car. During our hot Arizona summers, who doesn’t need that?
Who are the clear films perfect for? They are widely used by car enthusiasts that don’t want to alter the look of their vehicle, but still want to block the heat. A person with vision issues who cannot safely operate a vehicle with dark tint now has the ability to block heat and still drive safely.
