How Do Today’s Lafayette Smart Window Films Or Glass Control Heat But Let In View And Light?
Rather than get too techie about exactly how today’s smart glass films control the heat that comes through windows while still allowing visibility and light in, we’ll stick to keeping it as short and simple as possible. First, begin by getting to know some of the terms used to describe what happens with the energy that’s blocked with today’s smart windows and smart window films in Lafayette.
What Is Solar Energy And Why Block It Out?
Before describing what solar energy is and why you might want to block it out of your windows, first, let’s look at what radiant heat is. If you have a central air system, you get heat from air that’s blown into the home. This is not radiant heat. Cooking ovens and wood stoves are. Heat that radiates from a source is radiant heat.
Solar energy is radiant light and heat that comes from the sun and is harnessed into usable energy. Once it’s being used, it’s termed, “solar power.”
Another term to understand first is ‘heat transference.’ Heat transference is when the solar energy passes through an object like your windows or glass in your home, commercial building, or vehicle.
With solar energy, three types of light are categorized as Ultraviolet (UV) light, visible light, and infrared (IR) light. These types of light are part of the solar spectrum and are distinguished by wavelength. UV light is harmful to us and to our furnishings, wood, and other materials. It can dry out the woodwork, fade furnishings and flooring, and cause health problems for us.
In reference to your regular windows or fixed glass windows, new technologies have allowed us to block out the harmful parts of solar energy before it passes through your windows without losing your view or light. This is possible because only the heat is blocked and not the portion of light we can see by. Remember, solar energy has two parts to it, light and heat. There’s a lot more to this story, but we’re keeping our explanation short and sweet here.
Smart Window Films And Smart Window Glass
Separating the portion of light we see and the harmful parts of the sun’s energy is what allows you to still keep your beautiful view and still enjoy the amount of light you prefer for the window while blocking out up to 60% of the heat. But incredibly, we can block out up to 99.9% of damaging UV rays!
Today’s “smart” window films and many brands of window glass can do just that. They can block up to 99.9% of damaging UV rays, which reduces fading of furnishings and helps keep you cool and healthy indoors. Heat can be blocked to 60%, infrared light up to 97%.
According to NASA, every 1.5 millionths of a second, the sun puts out more energy than our race consumes in a year. That’s a lot of energy! The energy coming from the sun contains heat, charged (nuclear) particles, and light. This energy powers earth’s chemical processes that make life possible.
Imagine being able to block out that harmful UV energy nearly 100%. Well, that’s always possible with the right building materials, but what about glass! Now imagine being able to block out only the harmful part of that energy, yet still see through the object you’re blocking it with. Now that’s an incredible feat! Call your Lafayette Shutter Company today for an estimate!
*Sources: http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/sun-heat/en/
