Date:         Sat, 8 Mar 2003 03:13:59 -0600
Reply-To:     caryccc <caryccc@JUNO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         caryccc <caryccc@JUNO.COM>
Subject:      Re: window tint
Comments: To: John Rodgers <j_rodgers@CHARTER.NET>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

John:
You seem to be very knowledgeable about window tint.  I am concerned with
high privacy / high transparancy first, and heat reduction second.  (even
though my AC has never worked)  I understand why a metal spluttered type of
film is more effective at reflecting heat and / or UV rays than just a
normal tint film.  However, I wonder if a darker tint is actually better at
keeping a van cooler temperature-wise than a lighter tint.   I suspect that
a darker color would absorb more light rays (and therefore more heat).  I
think people may believe darker = better because they associate a dark car
interior with lower temp.; in other words, a false logic of it simply
"looking" cooler.  I have asked around at several tint shops, but cannot get
any definitive answers regarding darker actually reducing interior temps.
  Years ago, an intelligent person told me that non-tinted windows were
better, because the UV rays that penetrated thru the glass could likewise
exit almost as freely, but that a tinted window (which reflects most but not
all UV rays) ultimately traps more UV (and therefore more heat) inside,
because the UV that enters the car has greater difficulty reflecting back
out of the interior.  I like the privacy of a dark tint, but find that I
can't see out at night when I need to back up, park, etc.  I have tried to
find the old-fashioned mirror-type tint, which satisfies the day privacy /
night visibiliy issue, but apparently it is no longer for sale in FLAPS.

I have heard about a window tint test done by a university somewhere in the
Southwest (AZ?):  Two identical model cars with the same interior and
exterior color were parked in the sun.  One had dark tint, the other light
(or no) tint.  After 4-5 hours, both cars supposedly had the same interior
temperature.
  Have you or anyone else heard of this experiment?
  Has anyone actually measured the interior temperature difference before
and after tinting their windows?
  Anybody with tinted and non-tinted windows vans want to try the above
experiment?
  Maybe Pop-top versus passenger metal roof?
  Any ideas or comments on these issures are appreciated!

Cary