Protection From Sun Glare, Eye Strain And Fatigue With Window Tinting

A key issue for thousands of office workers is solar glare during the summer season, which lasts right through until autumn as the sun dips lower in the sky. In South Africa’s hot climate, average daily temperatures might not drop below 30 degrees centigrade in the summer months or 20 degrees in the winter.

It’s not surprising to find that one of the biggest issues affecting employee wellbeing and productivity is simply finding the right balance between having sufficient light with which to work, protection from sun glare and maintaining comfortable temperature levels throughout the changing seasons of the year.

Efficient blocking of sunglare while maintaining optimum interior visible light levels is crucial for protecting against negative effects, which can result in eye strain, soreness, fatigue, migraines and headaches, etc.

Cutting glare – saving visible light

The sun’s glare is simply the admittance of excessive visible light from the solar spectrum. Window tinting film has been installed as the most cost-effective, efficient replacement for “fiddly” – and often only partially working blinds –  to reject sun glare without a reduction in the visible view.

Determining the degree of glare rejection obtained from a window tinting film is calculated on the total visible light rejected from entering a building through the existing window system, which reflects only around 75 per cent of visible light.

Energy savings

Employers also look to optimise energy savings by either retaining or rejecting heat and only operating heating or cooling systems at the required level. Solar heat control window tinting films not only screen out up to 90 per cent or more of visual glare, reject at least 80 per cent of solar heat and block up to 99 per cent of solar UV radiation, they are capable of conserving energy and thereby, reduce cooling costs by up to 50 per cent

Interior fading

It has also been estimated that 15 per cent of material fading ( to furnishings, paintwork, flooring, etc) is caused by sun glare alone. While the damage is not as excessive as the 60 per cent of fading caused by UV light or 20 per cent by solar heat, window tinting film has been shown to reduce the fading process by around 50 per cent.

Prevention of sunglare by a high performance, non reflective ‘grey’ window film can cut out as much as 95 per cent of glare, while even a ‘silver’ reflective film prevents around 85 per cent from passing through the window glass.

With its high visible light transmission values, window tinting film will always produce a clearer and more natural view through a glass pane, while reducing unwanted solar glare.

About the Author – The author of this post is Rico Lowe; he is also the owner of Sola Tint and Style. Rico and his window tinting team are based in Johannesburg but cover surrounding areas.