Ok engineers... Question (tint, UV)

[jediknight36]

I will be picking up my smart this winter/spring and I want to get tint. I have a choice of regular tint or UV tint. Now, I know that automotive windows block UV rays and I know this because of two things: 1) I found it doing research on sun burns in cars, and 2) my transition lenses do not change in an automobile. My eye doc told me that because of the auto glass, that they will not change. And yes, my car is tinted, but my school bus was not and they would not change in sunlight coming in from the windows.

My question is: Is spring for the $50 extra worth it for the UV Tint?

[BigWarpGuy]

I am not an egineer but I think it would be worth it. I believe the UV is what makes the car hot inside and blocking it is a good thing(?).

[jediknight36]

Originally Posted by BigWarpGuy

I am not an egineer but I think it would be worth it. I believe the UV is what makes the car hot inside and blocking it is a good thing(?).

But thats the thing. Auto windows already block UV rays...

So, do they do anything?

[rawlus®]

i spent the extra money on professionally-installed nano-ceramic tint made by Huper Optik. the ceramic seems to block significantly and noticeably more radiant heat than plain metalized film or tinted plastic.

the added bonus is that the ceramic tint is extremely high-quality and OEM-looking in appearance. there is no metallic, shiny or reflective quality that is an indicator of aftermarket. optical clarity is superior to just about any other material i have seen as well. there is no dye or metallic material to degrade over time, it's warrantied for 10 years IIRC.

the laws here in MA permit no less than 35% light transmission - the specific material i went with was X3 Ceramic 40

• visible light transmission - 42 (this is because the OEM glass already has about a 7% tint, so 42% gets me to 35% combined and allowed by law)
• visible light reflectance - 9% (this is the low "mirror" effect)
• total solar transmission - 29%
• infrared rejection - 80%
• UVa/b/c rejection - 99%
• solar energy rejection - 55%

many of the installers have a display with a bulb in a cube and with th etint applied on one side of the cube but not the other - or different levels of ceramic tint applied to each side, you can actually feel the heat reduction y touching the different sides.

it is plenty dark enough for me - nighttime driving is not compromised, and heat absorption is significantly reduced - which was my primary motivation for tint in the first place.

to answer the original question more directly, glass (and most other transparent materials) blocks (or more appropriately, absorbs) the shorter wavelength UV-b and UV-C wavelengths, those that would cause a sunburn for instance, but it transmits the longer UV-A radiation. SUnburn and skin cancer are commonly associated with UV-B, but some tanning and sunburn is still possible with UV-A depending upon the conditions.

Tanning lamps typically produce most of their energy in the UV-A range and do not produce sunburn except for fairly long exposure times.

but most auto glass is safety glass of some sort, laminated with plastic or other materials so even if a small amount of UV-B were to be transmitted through the glass, it would be absorbed by the laminate materials.

[SubSlr88]

Your installer probably means "metallic" vs "non-metallic" films. Most all films will sufficiently block the UV - both UVA and UVB. Just plain glass will block a large portion, as you already found out with your glasses.

The main difference that I can see is that the metallic gives you a reflectivity (mirroring, if you will) that plain (non-metallic) tint films don't.
Both should work equally well for normal use. The metallic may be slightly better for keeping the IR portion of the spectrum down, i.e. heat.

You might check this site for more info and to check on your state's laws concerning window tints. . . they vary widely from state to state.

Solar Gard Window Film - Window Film for your business and home window film needs - Welcome

[jediknight36]

Originally Posted by rawlus®

i spent the extra money on professionally-installed nano-ceramic tint made by Huper Optik. the ceramic seems to block significantly and noticeably more radiant heat than plain metalized film or tinted plastic.

the added bonus is that the ceramic tint is extremely high-quality and OEM-looking in appearance. there is no metallic, shiny or reflective quality that is an indicator of aftermarket. optical clarity is superior to just about any other material i have seen as well. there is no dye or metallic material to degrade over time, it's warrantied for 10 years IIRC.

Ahh, thank you. I looked into that company and even emailed them and did not get a response. How much and can I get it in north texas?

[SubSlr88]

Thanks - that's very useful info that I'll have to remember when my non-orphan arrives next year. Sounds like something I could use here in good old sunny FL!

BTW - cost to do your smart, Rawlusa??

[mvaldes]

FWIW, the UVA transmitted by ordinary auto glass won't change your "photogray" eyeglass lenses, but is associated with an increased incidence of skin cancer and general photoaging of the skin. Until recent years the literature primarily implicated UVB but it's now recognized that was only part of the story.

[HGB]

My .02,
Since the smart has an outside radio antenna one could easily choose metallic material.
As for considering a band across the windshield, as some owners may prefer to add, any radar detector mounted there will become practically worthless. Metallic tint for the rear window will also affect radar reception from behind.
These are issues that confront all owners that have the need for standard Radar detecting devices.
Personally I do not use a detector for every day use, yet when I will be traveling a great distance in the near future, a detector will be part of my arsenal. Window tinting is something I would like to add especially here in the sunshine state.

[jediknight36]

OK! There is at lest one place in DFW that will do the hubrik optik tint nd its Pro-Tint!