Solar reducing window screens

[Matt Schroeder]

Does anybody have experience with solar window screen material, similar to this material?

http://www.phifer.com/suncontrol/exterior

I have two west facing windows in my home office that throw off heat during the afternoon. The room is easily 10 degrees warmer than the closest room without that exposure. I have a full shade on the inside that we open during the winter to keep it lighter, but that shade is always really warm to the touch in the summer. I am not crazy about the dark "hole in the wall" look of the darker solar screen material, but maybe a lighter color, 80% reducing fabric could look OK. Visibility in/out is not terribly important, relative to keeping the room more comfortable.

I have also considered solar film, but it seems to me that would not do as good a job of keeping the heat down as something on the outside, not touching the window, would do.

Thanks in advance for any information or opinions you can share.

Matt

[Mike Lassiter]

Low E coating on windows reduces the heat gain tremendously. I have replaced a acrylic sky light in my kitchen with a Velux glass one with Low E glass. Before I could stand under the sky light when the sun was bright and high and the top of my head would start getting hot from the sun shining in and the floor would be much warmer where the sun shown on it. Now with the Low E glass sky light I cannot feel that anymore. I don't know if you can get a Low E coating on a window film or not, but I would expect you to see a noticeable difference in the heat in the room if it is because of the sun shining in the windows causing it if you installed some with the Low E coating.

[Darryl Hazen]

The Phifer Suncontrol screen material is very popular here in Las Vegas. Nice thing about the screens is you can remove them in the winter if you feel you need more light.

[Greg Portland]

Does anybody have experience with solar window screen material, similar to this material?

http://www.phifer.com/suncontrol/exterior

I have two west facing windows in my home office that throw off heat during the afternoon. The room is easily 10 degrees warmer than the closest room without that exposure. I have a full shade on the inside that we open during the winter to keep it lighter, but that shade is always really warm to the touch in the summer. I am not crazy about the dark "hole in the wall" look of the darker solar screen material, but maybe a lighter color, 80% reducing fabric could look OK. Visibility in/out is not terribly important, relative to keeping the room more comfortable.

I have also considered solar film, but it seems to me that would not do as good a job of keeping the heat down as something on the outside, not touching the window, would do.

Thanks in advance for any information or opinions you can share.

Matt

The material color doesn't matter. I've got white fabric and it works w/o problem. The stuff is extremely durable and washable (I've got 2 young kids). Different weaves allow different amounts of light penetration. Most places will send you a sample pack so you can figure out what version you'd want.

[Greg R Bradley]

I have two West facing windows that were just horribly hot in the summer. I found fabric separated from the glass much more effective at reducing heat than reflective coatings. These were on old single pane glass windows. Modern double/triple pane windows could behave differently.