BCM Community

Have any of you busnuts ever used the mirrored window tinting film on the inside of your windows to reflect the heat from the sun. I went on the internet and a few have specs and say 80 to 85% of heat reflected back. I am converting a Prevost coach and am leaving all the windows in and thought this might be a way to help cut down on heat penetration.

Last year I did all the windows in my bus with window film.  I used the darkest tint available to me at the time, it is called Limousine.  It has helped quite a bit, there is a noticeable reduction of heat coming thru the windows and the ambient temperature inside the coach has improved.

Here is a shot of one window done, and the other still not completed, you can see the difference.


It helps to cut back on the heat, but not as much as they claim it will.  I believe the manufacturers claims are a tab bit exaggerated, but still, I think it was a good investment.

BCO

We used the same thing on our 4107 windows.  It really does make a difference.  The IR gun showed about a 20 degree difference in the sun. The limousine black doesn't distort the color of the view.  I think you have to check to make sure the material you are looking at has the metallic heat barrier in it. Ours looks black from the outside, not mirrored.

Don and Cary
1973 05 Eagle
GMC 4107
Neoplan AN340

Steve  was on the 89 when you visited and you didn't even notice it. really helps I used on upper windshield glass. Big help!  Bob   How is the Ant Farm?

It's a bit more money but if heat reflection is a major reason for the tint you may check into ceramic tint. With all the glass in most busses it may be worth it.

Do you put the tint on the inside or the outside of the pane?  Automotive tints I've seen were on the inside.  I would ideally like to be able to put a tint/heat rejection layer on the outside, I would think.

Brian

Mine is on inside   Bob

The tinted glass in my bus is not evenly tinted (54 Scenicruiser) Dark spots and lights spots. If I applied dark window tint over this would the lighter spots show through the dark tint? I may just paint the windows that I don't need to see through! Some are cracked, and that should at least hide the cracks!

One of the members here on the board used the mirrored stuff on one of his coaches and it looked great. I can't tell ya what the end resultd were but I do remember it looking good!
;D  BK  ;D

I thought I remembered it being jok who had used it and as I thought I were correct again!

http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=19286.msg209498#msg209498 (http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=19286.msg209498#msg209498)

http://s852.photobucket.com/albums/ab86/jok-kalamazoo/?action=view&current=MCI1.jpg (http://s852.photobucket.com/albums/ab86/jok-kalamazoo/?action=view&current=MCI1.jpg)

;D  BK  ;D

I think that installing it on the outside would be easy to scratch and not easy to clean. IMHO

Don, are your windows dual pane? I've thought of using the tint on ours but was afraid of heat buildup between the panes. I've heard of that happening and the glass breaking. That's why I haven't done it yet, would rather not be a guinea pig. Single pane should not be an issue.

Admittedly I don't know but I think double pane being susceptible to cracking sounds like an urban myth.  Ask the manufacturer.  Now he should be the consummate skeptic.

I have used this stuff for many rears in Southern Kalifornia.  It was SOP for me to do any car I acquired prior to the first summer we were together.  IT REALLY WORKS and as has been said it is a lot of bang for your comfort buck.  First in import is to make sure that the stuff REFLECTS UV and heat.  Some of the good stuff is silver and some is bronze and I recall that silver was superior.  Tint is secondary but it makes the interior seem "quiet and cool" and more comfortable.  Dark sides are a definite safety problem as you cannot see a unlit car coming through a parking lot at night.  In the drivers area, front and side windows be careful selecting the tint.  Above your line of vision and below your shoulder you can go with opaque and not miss much but anywhere you view you should err on the side of lighter.  Don't ask about harrowing experiences that might have tainted my opinion on this.

I have put sheet stainless on the exterior of my windshield on the extreme upper portion and on the lower where all it obstructed was the view of my sun reflecting/blinding hood.  Any shade is a really good thing and i have had many vehicles with a lot of glass area that was useless for vision.

Shop the specs and performance of this stuff before you shop the price.  Been there.

John

I cannot find a tint shop in my area that will tint double pane RV windows all say RV double pane are not 1st quality and will crack,makes a huge different depending on where live in the desert here it is ok but in cold climates best not to tint it cuts the heat out in the winter when you need it no free lunches you win one and lose one.
The windshield covers like Bill sales in FL is the way to have the best of both worlds they are a pain to install but work pretty good

good luck

I put silver mirror tint on the outside of my already deeply tinted RTS windows. It makes a big difference I believe. You can't see in the vehicle during the day, but at night you can if the lights are on inside, of course.

I was surprised that the tint is suitably durable for outside use. It's been on about two years now in rainy and foggy San Francisco, and it isn't peeling off at all. It also doesn't appear to be scratched either, but I hand wash the RTS.

I would think that putting the mirror on the outside would make it extremely unlikely the glass would crack, as I think the mirror rejects a lot of heat before it even gets to the glass.

I paid $350 for a roll large enough to do my entire conversion, and I have all the side windows intact on my 40' vehicle.

Kevin Warnock
http://KevinWarnock.com (http://kevinwarnock.com) - my blog

That is the problem with tinting double pane windows the tint on the inside window reflects the sun and heat breaking the outside glass so the experts told me I haven't a clue lol they just would not do mine for any price 

good luck

Have been around window work and heat reduction for 20 years now and can honestly tell you do not put any tint on the inside of your windows that has any reflective qualitys, IF you have thermopane, it will cause heat build up between the layers and blow your seals. alowing moisture to be sucked in and fogging your glass,any reflective tint should be placed on the outside, country coach put it outside for a number of years, NEVER heard of it cracking any glass. but could be possible i guess, the heat build up is  immense. putting foil in your windows while parked for an extended time will do the same. in the windshield it will cook your glass and the rubber seals. we actually bubbled the tint in one of our upper h Model windows while we were converting it, Just my expertise, do what you must...............

My new (to me) Eagle has reflective tinting (gold) on the outside of all windows except the door and drivers side window.  The glass is double paned.  You cannot see in during the day and, there is an appreciable difference in the heat penetration of the windshield and the tinted windows. 

I don't know how much is attributable to the double-paned windows and/or the tinting.  However, if they weren't tinted it would be my next project.

Gary, Do you have any pictures to share, I would like to see how it looks.

Hi Dreamscape,

The only picture of my bus is the screen-saver on the computer.  Can you tell me how to get that onto this page?

When I lived in Florida, mirror tint was illegal on front and rear windows; sides were okay, but were an obvious hazard in some instances.  My son got a ticket from a local yahoo cop who THOUGHT his factory windows were too dark (Alabama). Anyone checked legality lately?

In Kalifornia it didn't "used" to be illegal to put mirrored on the windshield.  I cut mine to fit the contour of my hood as seen from the drivers posit.  I then installed one of those mirrored "strips", 5 inch wide and full width, across the top of the windshield.  It looked like one of those Pete Conventionals with the wide sun shield and mirror that you see on the Interstate.  They look like they have a gun slit for a windshield viewing pattern.  Three of my SDPD buddies said I was OK, I knew that I could see as much as I always could even with the windshield bare, and a CHP Officer Alum told me while holding a Night Stick on the seat that I was withing the limit.  Nonetheless I always felt vulnerable on the issue.  Holy Crap what a difference that made to the comfort...it really cooled the interior.  That was a 240Z Car.  The sides had mirror on the top 4 inches on the sides, the rear quarters and rear had sunshades installed and I insulated the car really well.  That car was my daily driver and it DID NOT have AC in Southern Ca.  I did all that work because the car was intolerable in the summer without it.

All states have their own rules but Kalifornia seems very lax to me on many issues. 

John

Gary, PM sent.

Just to add for comparison purposes, we have dark tint on the see-thru windows.  I recently put mirror vinyl on the blocked off windows.  The IR gun show a 30 degree difference between the two in full sun surface temp.