We recently provided an estimate for a homeowner in Odessa, FL.
They have intense glare and heat blasting into several rooms in their home. They were actively looking for solutions and have considered blinds and draperies.
Direct comparisons win the day for Vista and Huper Optik Ceramic Films
They happened upon a 3M Window Film display at a local Home Depot store and were given a demo showing just how much heat the 3M Prestige Film would block from entering their home.
“97% of the heat the representative proudly exclaimed. No other film like it, it’s simply miraculous!”
They were more than intrigued and scheduled an in-house estimate. A sales rep gave them an estimate at a price that would shock even Charlie Sheen!
These homeowners declined to proceed and off went the 3M rep.
They went online to do their research and found me.
This isn’t an unusual occurrence.
This conversation may prove instructive to anyone who has been impressed with this demo at Home Depot or a Home Show and is considering their prestige solution.
At the onset I should mention that I spent 33 years at 3M. The Prestige Film was introduced in late 2005 and launched in 2006.
The idea was to position the product as an alternative to several spectrally selective films that had been introduced years earlier.
Their draw-back was the requirement to edge seal these films if the installation was done within proximity of water. (By the way Advanced Film Solutions does not promote solutions that corrode. That’s why we present Huper Optik ceramic films as the winning alternative.)
The film had an average heat rejection in the low 50’s which all things considered was pretty good for a light (70% VLT) film like Prestige.
Interestingly the films ability to factor out infrared heat particularly in a specific and extremely narrow wavelength, could be demonstrated using a very specific BTU meter and IR lamp.
The demo would seem to simulate the solar spectrum (it does not!) and an observer would be able to extrapolate how the film worked in blocking the IR.
We all understood that there might be the potential that people might assume that this film could block more than 50% of the heat based on the unusual “loaded” demo.
Consumers should be instructed that this was simply a demo and that the actual performance one might expect would be clearly noted on our specification sheet.
Obviously, a client who supposed that this product would block 97% of the heat would be sadly disappointed once they received their first post installation electric bill.
Now usually at this juncture the skeptical will defend what they think they saw.
I can use illustrations like pointing to a David Copperfield magic act to highlight the illusion.
I might spend 15 minutes describing the physics of the trick and exactly why and how it works to trick the uninformed viewer.
I can show charts and white papers
Coincidentally; I could do my own demo using several films that can beat Prestige 
at their own trickery.
Not gonna happen!
Yesterday I chose the technical approach
a) Because I can.
and. .
b) Because these folks were well educated people who understand the basics of what I explained above.
The question remains: How many consumers have unsuspectingly swallowed the illusion completely?
How many folks have been mislead?
We deal in straight talk, fair pricing and provide the best installations with the leading window film brands in the world.
Call for a free estimate or an education!
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