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Heat on to dispel window tint myth

Some materials cause interior of vehicle to heat up faster than if it had clear windows

By K.C. HOWARD
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Standing beside his brother's black Honda Accord in the Meadows mall parking lot, Andres Gomez pointed toward the vehicle's tinted windows.

"Everybody's got a different opinion," he said as a wall of heat emanated from the car's open door. "But (the tinted window) is like shade. It keeps it cooler inside."

Gomez's opinion would appear on its face to be sound. But as temperatures climb this summer, energy officials say motorists should know the darker the window, the hotter the interior of a vehicle will be.

Earlier this month, an infant died in a van with tinted windows after being left in the vehicle for eight hours. The darkened windows, Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said, would have made the interior hotter than had the glass been clear. Regardless of tint, Szymanski said, a child could not survive such conditions.

A typical dye job, shading the windows with a polyester film, will absorb 30 percent to 40 percent of the sun's rays. But any benefit is offset because dark coloring attracts heat faster than a clear window, said Michael Lamb, a U.S. Department of Energy technical specialist.

After a vehicle spends just a few minutes parked in the sun, Lamb said, traditionally tinted windows will store all the energy they can hold. The windows then channel the excess energy in different directions, superheating the interior.

"Tinted windows just block visible light and that might be helpful for glare or if you're doing something illegal in the car," Lamb said. "But if you're trying to keep cool, it's not going to do much for you."

Several local companies specializing in vehicle tints agree with Lamb and say customers should expect to pay more for a metallic film that will reflect light and keep a car cooler.

There is a misconception within the tinting industry that darker is better, said Jim Rasmussen, owner of Nevada Window Tinting, Inc.

The Energy Department recommends investing in the reflective coating, a more effective cooling technology.

These coatings "have a tendency not to be so dark so they don't attract heat," Rasmussen said.

Rasmussen said most dyed windows still will help block the sun's ultraviolet rays, which can cause cancer. The lighter, metallic films generally cost about $50 more per window, Rasmussen said.

According to a test conducted by the Las Vegas Fire Department in 1997, the interior of a car with tinted windows will reach 140 degrees in four minutes when the outside temperature is 90 degrees. A car without tinted windows would reach 125 degrees in 10 to 15 minutes.

Szymanski acknowledged the test did not use similar vehicles. He said he does not recollect the interior and exterior colors of the vehicles nor the width of the glass, all of which could have altered the findings.

But, he said, "it's just physics." And he asks skeptics to walk into a parking lot and place one hand on a tinted window and one on a clear pane.

"Which one is hotter?" he said.

But Mark Loiacano, owner of Alta Mere, a company specializing in window tints, said tinting will help lower a car's temperature at least when it's running.

"You're shading the light which is going to reduce the amount of heat once you get in the vehicle and get the (air conditioning) running," Loiacano said. Many customers, he said, just want the privacy darkened windows provide.

Las Vegas motorist Shayne Glover said he doesn't care whether tinted windows will reduce the interior temperature of his 1987 Cadillac. He said he simply wants to drive with more anonymity.

"I can't count the number of times I've driven by someone working in their nose," Glover said. "Sometimes you just don't want to be seen."

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