Any Had Window Tinting or Solar Screens on Their House?

Hi L.,

We debated for a long time between window tinting and solar screens. Our house has large windows facing both east and west. We decided to go with a light tan colored solar screens for several reasons.

First, window tinting can block out the sun for the summer but it also blocks out the sun in the winter. Not that we have harsh winters here but we didn't want to pay more in the winter to try to heat up the house. I think window tinting has various degrees of letting light thru. You might decide that you found one that lets in enough light for you.

Second, we did not want the dark black solar screens that so many houses have. The dark black makes the house look very dark and depressing from the street. Price wise the solar screens weren't that bad. I think we paid about $1,200-$1,600 for all the screens and installation. I think we even got them cheaper than the tinting was going to be.

I can't remember who we ordered the solar screens thru. If you decide to go that route I can find out the company's name. Also, if you provide me your email address, I will send you a picture of what the light tan color solar screens look like on our house. We were very pleased.

In regards to the electric bill, we did see electric bills of about $200 this last summer while everyone that we knew was having $300 electric bills. The most noticeable difference was how much cooler the house felt.

Also, at the same time we put in window screens we also added an additional turban fan on our roof. This helped the air flow under the roof to stay cooler. You might want to check this out as well. Not to expensive and defintely worth the effort. Good luck in your decision making.

1 mom found this helpful

We actually have both. We did the solar screen on both sides of the house and I think they work fairly well. I refused to have them on the front of the house for appearance reasons. We just had our back windows tinted a few months ago and I definitly prefer the tinting. You really can't tell that the tinting is there and it does not obstruct the view at all. I can't really tell if it will save us that much on our bills but you can tell a noticable difference in the temp. If we did it again I would go with tinting everywhere. BTW we used Tims Windowtinting and really liked the service and installation. Heck it is worth it for the window cleaning alone!!! (Inside only)

1 mom found this helpful

Hi L.~
We have not put solar screens or window tint up as our windows do not face east west sun....big difference from our last house! Plus, in my new house, the windows are tinted already. However...we have extremely high electric bills every summer and thought that we should try to do something. So we have started putting radiant barrier in our attic. It is made out of reflective material and easy to install. We put some on the access door to the attic and on the inside of our garage door as well. The garage door is metal and gets really hot...we used liquid nails and put the radiant barrier in between the panels and it has made a big difference. We have one large room over the garage so this helps with that room in particular. My neighbor works for Home Depot. He is in upper management so he relies more on the advice of the people who he works with. He had the contractor come out and use the radiant barrier spray. But I have read that product isn't as effective as the other kind. The Department of Energy has a website that is great too. You put in your zip code and some info about your home and how it was constructed and it tells you how much insulation you need to add! Yes, in TX we need more insulation than what the builders put in! It is expensive to install the radiant barrier in the whole house at once, so for the past year, we would buy one or two rolls at a time and install it in the attic. Everything that I have read says that the best way to install it is up against the roof rather than laying it on the insulation. Good luck! K.

1 mom found this helpful

In June of 2000, we used Professional Window Tint of Dallas (Phillip Roberts) ###-###-####. The brand we used is Panorama.

We chose window tint because it does not change the look of the windows from the street. In my opinion, the solar screen are much more noticable, therefore to be consistant you need to do all of the windows and with tint you have an option if you only need to work with a few windows vs the entire house.

I had all of my windows done and the cost was about $2400. I am pleased with the job they did. We had 1 window develop some bubbling and they came right out, well after the initial install and re-did that window at no charge. I also had a window replaced and in that case the tint was not under a warranty and he only charged me $60 to redo that window.

Overall we are happy with the quality of work they did, happy with the window tint and the benefits of tint. I really do not notice the tint unless I raise a window and see the difference OR I am outside in daylight and cannont see in my house. I like being able to go to the door and no one knows I am looking to see who is there unless I am very close to the window.

As far as lowering utility costs, I don't think it does that much on its own. We got the tint to protect furniture, flooring and to aid with electricity savings. We do not have any windows which are directly affected by the morning or afternoon sun. Our cooling system is electric so about now through October our electric bills are $300-$800. We have not seen a big change in our electric bills at all since we built and moved in 2000.

Hopefully that helps. Susan

PS: I noticed the comment about the tint voiding warranty. In my case, it did not but you might want to check your warranty first.

1 mom found this helpful

We put up the solar screens winter before last and really felt the effects this last summer. We have average bill pay so I didn't see any bill difference, but the watt usage was lower then the previous summer and the A/C would turn off at 5pm in the afternoon. We have been really pleased with them.

Hi L.,
My husband and I are going to do the screens because you can take them on and off. We moved from florida which is also very hot but did not have the electric bills like we do here. A friend last year had a 800.00+ bill and a cousin over 700.00. Also since the Texas Electric Deregulation look into going with a Electric Comapny that gives you better rates. My husband and I did and now won't suffer with high bills like last summer. Even thought my husband is in Corporate Management and I am a Commercial Associate we got involved with helping people lower their bills because of the need. This has been a major issue in our area and for some people a financial hardship. We changed our Electricity here: http://rondastepp.igniteinc.biz
It takes 5 minutes, does not cost you, and you can do it all from this site. Stream Electricity is one of the 5 largest carriers in Texas. On the PUC site it has the lowest rates listed between the major 5. Good Luck! We were glad we did this! One woman saved as much as 60% in the summer on her bill with Stream Energy P.S. I invite anyone with high bills to do this before the heat comes!

My husband bought solar screen from Home Depot and made the frames himself... it has really helped on the amount of sunlight coming in our windows...

We have solar screens on our house now but had the windows tinted in our first house.

We noticed a bigger savings with the solar screens. Added benefit during the daytime we can look out but people cannot see in. With the window tinting you could still look in.

We used Lone Star Solar to do our work.

Looked into both and chose to go with radiant barrier for our home.Efficient Attic Systems did the installation. We just had it done last month so we are hoping to start seeing the savings on our elctric bills as well.

We put solar screens up the year before last. We put them up because our ac is very old, & our house was always really hot in the summer. It worked really well. It didn't really do too much for our bill, but it def. made the house cooler. We put them on ourselves, & it was really easy & cheap. We have neighbors that had professionals do it & ours looks the same. It's easy to do & the materials, at Home Depot, were not expensive.

I had Lone Star Solar Screens put my solar screens up in Feb. WOW!!! what a difference!!! MY house is about 2200 sq ft and it only cost about 580. My bills are already way cheaper. I think they will pay for themselves!! I barely have to turn the AC on. I leave it off when I go to work and come home and the house was still around 78 the other day!!!! I had 80% on the front and 90% on the back. The even did the grids or panes or what ever you call them on the front so it looks really nice.

I think the tinting is just a film like on the cars. It is heat sealed but I could be wrong. The solar screens we did ourselves. Saved a bunch of money. Got the frames and screen from Home Depot and they told us how to make them. Then my ex put these little flip deals screwed into the window like in my china cabinet so you can take out the glass. I then could remove them and wash the windows and replace them. They work ok. If the house was built in the last 4-5 years the code they put on new homes have to have this energy saving window that helps also with fading furniture and bills. I can not remember what it is called. But I have them in my home and it is 4 yrs old.

I've heard they're comparable and it's really your preferance. We chose solar screens because we have a new home and the window tint voids the manufacturer window warranty.

Haven't gotten an electric bill yet to see if it's decreased, but it does feel cooler in our hottest room.

We have screens so that we can take them off during the winter and put them on in the summer. We only have them on the windows of one room with a whole wall of windows. They make a HUGE difference!! My husband just made them with materials from Home Depot.

I have had both...I DON'T recommend the window tinting.

We have solar screens now and we love them. I don't know that it saved too much on our bills, but it did save some. We have 5 windows that are 72 in x 72 in and 3 that are 36 in x 56 in and it was going to cost us $2000 to $4000 to have them done. So we priced everything at Lowes and Home Depot and did them ourselves for around $150. We went in with one of our neighbors and split the cost with them and it 2 one whole Sunday to do them on both houses. It is so easy.

Good Luck,
K.

I used to be a new home inspector for a large new home builder and the window tint did void the warranty as it has be known to cause a problem with double paned windows. We always suggested the screens when explaining the warranty on the home. The void came throught the window company not us.......hope this helps

Hi L.,

I do not have window tinting or solar screens. But I'm in the real-estate business and EVERYONE who has solar screens swear by them. My last client lived in a 2900 square foot home and she stated the solar screens cut their electric bill in almost half the savings was almost instant.

I can get their name and number if you are interested.

Best of Luck!

C.