Does Window Film Block Out Heat?
Hey, my name is Ralph. I'm with Flex Film and we're at it again with another quality video. Have you ever had a customer ask you the question, how much heat does your window film block out? How do you answer that question? Is there an answer to that question? How are you going to tackle that? Well, in this video, we're going to try to explore some possible answers to that question. Stay tuned.
In order for us to get closer to answering the question, we've got to go over a few things. First of all, there's an ongoing debate that still exists today about total solar energy rejection versus infrared radiation. Which one do you consider? Which one is going to be the best to determine how you're going to feel behind the wheel of a car?
Well, first of all, you got to look at something. You got to break it down into two parts. You've got flat glass film and you've got automotive film. Flat glass film is designed to reflect solar energy. Automotive film is designed to absorb solar energy. Because we've got to play the cards we're dealt, when we're building automotive film. We have to make sure that the products are either black, make sure the products or either charcoal, we've got to make sure the product is non-reflective. And we also have got to make sure that the product meets most state law requirements.
You see this car right here? This is an example of why we've got to consider window films with high IR specs. These window films absorb solar energy. The car you see right here actually has a high total solar energy rejection spec. It would have to be very dark in color. It would have to be very reflective. Would this comply with most state laws? Would your customers be happy? I don't think so. This is why we got to play the cards we're dealt.
In order to get a little bit closer to the answering our question, we have to talk about the heat lamp demonstration. Also known as the French fry lab. You see, there's actually heat coming out of this box, but that might not be the appropriate term we should use for this demonstration. We might ought to consider calling it the burn box because see, we're blasting our customer with an exaggerated 250 watt bulb of infrared radiation. Yeah, there's a little heat there, but it's an IR bulb. An IR does something that we don't even think about. It actually creates a perception of heat.
IR has the longest wavelength out of anything coming at you from the sun. It penetrates the skin, the deepest. It goes so far in our skin it actually irritates nerve endings, which sends signals to our brain. Our brain perceives that irritation as heat. It's not heat. You can't measure it with a thermometer. But you know what? You put on an IR film with a good IR number on it, we can make that burn go away.
So let's try to conclude this video and let's try to answer the question. When the customer asks, how much heat does your window film block out? Let me tell you how I answer the question. Okay. I focus on what the window film does. It blocks out solar energy. And then I talk to the customer about what is solar energy. I tell them it's visible light. Heck, it's like putting a great pair of sunglasses on your car. Then I'll tell them it blocks out UV rays. Now we can put a sunscreen on your glass without getting it on your skin and walk out UV rays. And then if you've got the right film, like an IR film, I can do something amazing. I can block out infrared radiation. See I can stop the burn. That's the perception of heat that you get when the radiation goes into your skin.
This is what we tell the customer. We don't specifically tell the customer it blocks out heat. We make it more exciting. We tell the customer the benefits of window film as it absorbs solar energy.