Solar Insulating Window Film: Quick Savings Tip
One of the easiest and most cost effective ways to save big on your energy bills is to apply solar control or insulating window film. It can be pleasant to have full light come into your home, a major reason we have windows. The biggest drawback to allowing unfiltered sun light into your home is that it can increase your energy bills. During the winter, light does not provide enough heat, while during the summer light only increases the amount of heat entering our homes.
Benefits
The financial benefits obtained through using insulating window films far outweigh the affordable cost to buy and apply window film to your windows. The typical film is to be applied to the interior part of our windows and works by eliminating or holding in much of the sun’s heat. Up to 70% of the heat can be reduced during hot times of year and keeps the cold out during winter months by better insulating your windows. This can result in a 5-10% savings on your monthly energy bills, but the savings are usually much greater in warmer climates or during the summer.
On top of the savings you get through your energy bill, there is also a 30% tax credit on the purchase of all window films. This means that you get a 30% discount on the total purchase of any tinting you buy for you home. Even though it usually tends to be fairly affordable, this is just another incentive to go out and buy window film.
Window films can also have an added benefit of reducing most of the harmful UV rays from the light that enters your home. This can drastically reduce the amount of fading that occurs on flooring, furniture and fabrics. There is also a reduction in glare. What even nicer is that technology has improved the quality of window film making it barely noticeable in terms of how it looks on your windows and the amount of natural light still entering your home.
Total Savings
Let’s first start with the cost to actually buy and install window film in your home. You can expect to pay in the $2-3 range and the cost of installation can range from $5-$7 per square foot. That means that the total cost to buy window film for a 3×7 sliding door would cost approximately $50 and an installation cost of a little over $100.
Since window filming tends to last for about 10-15 years, this means that you can really save over that period. The following table is a sample of how much you could save depending on your total energy bill cost:
Window Film Savings on Monthly Energy Bill
| 1 Month | 1 Year | 5 Year | 10 Year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $100 | $10 | $120 | $600 | $1,200 |
| $250 | $25 | $300 | $1,500 | $3,000 |
As you can tell from the data, the more your energy bill is the more you can save, especially in the long run. Even with a relatively small energy bill, you can recoup the costs for the film in under a year and reap the savings over the remainder of its life. None of this is including the savings from having to possibly replace flooring, furniture or window treatments due to fading over the period.
You can also save a little money by doing it yourself, but be sure that study up on how to properly install window tinting and follow this video that does a great job in describing each step of the process:
The financial benefits should encourage anyone to want to have window filming installed on windows throughout your home. Just be sure to contact a professional if you are unsure about anything in the process as with any DIY project. It is also recommened that you contact your window manufacturer to ensure that window film is appriate for your windows and will not cause any damage if applied.
Please share any experience you have with window film or if you plan on installing window filming throughout your home.
