Ceramic 50 Residential Window Tinting Studio City Los Angeles

The Challenge

Heat | Light | Low Reflective | Fading | Cost

We can't say this was too much of a challenge because the writing was on the wall for this particular project even though there were five challenges we were addressing at once. A new homeowner located in Studio City Los Angeles was noticing an uncomfortable amount of heat transmitting through his dual paned windows. During a conversation with a friend and coworker the friend went on to tell our soon to be customer that they had Clearview Sun Control, Inc. solve a similar problem with their home in Marina Del Rey many years ago. Gratefully we were recommended for a no cost consultation, a trend we strive for as a company for obvious reasons. The heat was a big factor here, unlike many of our beachfront customers that enjoy a consistent ocean breeze throughout the year. Studio City for the most part can feel more like Palm Springs during some hot summer days. Another important factor was not to darken the house too much and to keep the glass looking as natural as possible, in other words to minimize changing the curb appeal of the glass. When asked about if fading was a concern this was definitely a subject of interest being that this was a new home with new furniture and hardwood floors. Cost is generally always a factor and finally window film technology has caught up, we now have access to new affordable, dual-pane safe and professional ceramic solar film's from more then one source. We pride ourselves as a ‘service’ based business unlike our competitors that are more product based, that’s a topic within itself.

The Solution

A 50% Visible Light Transmission (VLT) film may sound dark to most of us not familiar to solar film products because rejecting 50% of the light seems like a big number but in reality this is considered a light film in our industry. We understand this is subjective in nature but for the most part those that were concerned that the product would be too dark for their glass end up being totally satisfied with the final results. As your consultant it’s our job to understand that there is a close correlation to greater fade reduction when addressing lower VTL specifications. To the subject of low reflectivity we approach this in three ways. Either choose a product made with dyed materials to hide the reflective properties of metals normally used in high heat rejecting films or use an alternative technology such as precious metals or ceramic. Because these factors end up tying into each other eventually and with our extensive experience in the business we knew right way that the ceramic product would be the best choice here because of the indisputable clear aesthetics provided with some ceramic film products (something the customer didn't even think to bring up), better then average performance and compared to precious metal products which work excellent, lower cost. A dyed film would have cost less but the performance of dyed materials doesn't even compare to NFRC rated professional ceramic films and unfortunately dyed products are prone to discoloration and limited warranty’s. We recommended Saint-Gobain's new Panorama CX50 for this project do to all the positive attributes just mentioned and a lifetime warranty from the manufacturer. Was it a success? We are scheduled to return this week to do the other side of the house, I would comfortably say yes :)

Window Treatment Picture Notes

Picture #2 : A side-by-side comparison, the garage door is NOT treated. As noted, the curb-appeal was a big concern and this picture shows just how unobtrusive the Panorama CX Ceramic 50 Window Film appears from the exterior. Notice the little to no difference between treated and untreated Panorama Ceramic CX50 Solar Film.