Can Window Film Lower Your Energy Bills?
If one room in your house turns into a sauna every summer afternoon, your AC has probably noticed too. We look at how window film cuts down on heat coming through the glass, where it makes the biggest difference in Oregon, and where it doesn’t.
Plenty of Portland-area homes have that one room. Maybe it’s the living room with the big west-facing window, or a bonus room over the garage. The rest of the house feels fine, but by mid-afternoon in July, that room is ten degrees warmer and the AC is running nonstop trying to keep up.
Offices have a version of this too. One side of the building gets hammered by afternoon sun, and the HVAC system works overtime cooling that side while people on the other side reach for a sweater.
In both cases, a lot of the problem is coming straight through the glass. That’s where window film comes in.
Where the Heat Is Coming From
Sunlight carries heat in a form you can’t see. Infrared light passes right through ordinary window glass, warms up everything it hits, and your AC has to work to remove that heat again. Darkening the glass helps a little, but the better approach is a film that targets the infrared part directly.
That’s what 3M Prestige Series film is built for. According to 3M, it rejects up to 97% of the sun’s infrared light and up to 60% of the heat coming through your windows, all without making the glass look dark. The less heat that gets in, the less your cooling system has to fight.
Where Film Saves the Most
Window film doesn’t make the same difference on every window. The biggest payoff usually comes from glass that gets direct sun during the hottest part of the day. West-facing windows are the usual suspects, followed by large south-facing ones. A north-facing window that never sees direct sun won’t change much, and we’ll tell you that.
The same idea applies to businesses, just on a bigger scale. Office buildings and storefronts often have far more glass than a house, so the heat adds up fast. Filming the sunniest sides of a building can even out those hot and cold zones and take some pressure off the HVAC system. Our commercial window film page has more on how we approach those projects.
Being Honest About Oregon’s Climate
We’d be stretching it if we told you window film will slash your bills the way it might in Phoenix. Oregon’s hot stretch is shorter, and plenty of homes here run the AC for only a few months a year. So the savings depend a lot on your house. A home with lots of west-facing glass and central air will see more of a difference than a shady house that barely uses its AC.
If your house doesn’t have air conditioning at all, film still helps. You just feel it as a more comfortable room rather than a lower bill.
Winter is worth mentioning too. Solar control film blocks some of the sun’s heat year-round, including on the rare sunny day in January when that warmth would actually be welcome. That’s one reason we usually focus on the windows that cause problems in summer rather than filming every window in the house.
What About Energy Trust Rebates?
If you’ve looked into saving energy around the house, you’ve probably come across Energy Trust of Oregon. Their window incentives are for replacing windows with new ENERGY STAR certified ones. Window film is a different kind of upgrade, since it goes on the glass you already have, so check with Energy Trust before assuming film qualifies for anything. For a lot of homeowners, film is a way to fix a hot room without taking on a full window replacement.
What to Expect
We start by walking through the house with you to figure out where the heat is coming from. It’s often not as many windows as you’d expect. After that, you’ll get a quote, and once you’re good with it, we order the film and set an install date. Plan on most of that day going into prep work. Film won’t stick properly to glass that isn’t perfectly clean, so we don’t rush that part.
Most 3M films come with a manufacturer-backed warranty, and coverage depends on the product and whether it’s a home or business. We also stand behind our own installation, and you’ll get the exact terms in writing. You can find more details on our residential window film page.
If you’re looking for help with a hot car rather than a hot room, we’ve covered that in 5 Benefits of Car Window Tinting in Oregon. And if you’re still deciding which film is right for your space, our guide to choosing window film for your home or office walks through privacy, decorative, and security films too.
Why PDX Wraps?
We’re a family-owned 3M Pro Shop dealer in Sherwood, and we’ve been installing film since 2006. We’d rather tell you which windows are worth filming than sell you film for every pane of glass in the house.
Got a Room That’s Always Too Hot?
Tell us about it. We’ll take a look, figure out which windows are causing the problem, and let you know whether film makes sense for your space.
