GILA Mirrored Privacy Window Film

I recommend it because it's cheap for 3' x 15', and looks good too. However, there's a lot of if's and but's. The Lowes review system is pretty useless. So here it is.

Privacy

First of all, the privacy is not absolute, and varies depending on time of the day. To understand how it works, a piece of glass reflect a small fraction of the incoming light and let others through. With the film on, the incoming light is reduced to some 15% (check), and the reflection is increased to 85% (assuming no absorption).

So on the outside of the house you see two light sources. A 85% reflection of yourself, and 15% of whatever source from inside the house. The brighter the outside, the stronger the reflection of yourself and the less you can see inside. In day time even without bright sunlight, you can hardly see inside even when you are a few feet from the window.

After dark outdoors, you don't see any reflection of yourself at all. All you see is the indoor lighting, reduced to 15%. Although dim, you can see clearly how many people are there and what they are doing. In addition, people indoors don't see anything outside at all. All they see is a beautiful reflection of the living room or wherever they are in. They can't see even if someone is right outside the window.

It's not for you if you want absolute privacy at night. But it's wrong to say there's no privacy. The indoor lights is reduced to 15% and that's an improvement, thought not very useful. For me there will not be visitors and door to door salesmen at night and any pediatricians then will be far away from the windows.

Appearance

It really looks like that from the outside as in the picture even if your installation is not perfect. Of course it depends on how good looking is your environment. It's hard to see the flaws when you are at the outside. Unless you have huge windows like that, other people from afar will not easily notice that it's a mirror, because the reflections will be other parts of the external architecture, the sky, and trees. Even normal glass will reflect a lot in bright sunlight.

Looking indoors you see a beautiful reflection of your room at night. Your room will be brighter and hence another energy saving advantage. In daytime you can see the flaws of your installation if you are a few feet away or closer. Form afar the windows looked like it has dark stinted glass instead of plain glass with film on.

From indoors you can see the about 2mm gap that the film does not cover. It's a bit like a dark stain glass with unstained, polished edge as in some mirrors. Clear films do not have this feature. It can look good inside architecturally in bright sunlight. It's likely that your first installation do not have perfect straight edges and perfect corners. But you won't notice it if you are a few feet away. And if that imperfection bugs you, don't put it on a window you sit next to all the time.

Energy saving applications

I would put the film on all windows wherever I can. It's a pretty good cooler in summer and has official ratings to prove it. Clear energy saving films are more expensive. Check that some films are not desirable for double glazing.

Blinds and curtains do not have the energy saving efficiency of the film against the sun.

Blinds/curtains/shutter replacement

With this film blinds will not be necessary in many windows. I believe UV light is filtered by the film so furniture are safe. This film is like a sun glass so no more glares when you are working next to the windows.

It's suitable for a TV room, unless you often close all the blinds and curtains in daytime. At night it's a mirror indoors so you won't be disrupted by a passing car (likely).

It's great for architectural windows like arch windows, where blinds are impossible, curtains are awkward. The only decent way to "close" arch windows is to use custom arched shutters. Imagine the expenses compared to a piece of film. With the film on, you can sleep in day time or wake up late with must less disruption by sunlight. It's like sleeping on a dull rainy day, which makes you sleepy anyway.

Window that I will not use on

I will not use the film on windows that have a great view. The view is improved by the film with bright sunlight, due to the anti-glare effect. On rainy cloudy dull days, the effect is marginal. The view certainly get worse as the light reduces from evening to night.

If you have a sunny climate, the glass patio door is probably OK if you don't have a far view from there, and you don't have fancy flood lights in the yard at night.

Installation

Installation isn't at all difficult if you do not need perfection. If it's an arch window near the ceiling no one will ever notice.

The films are on for a few months now. I did a rather poor job but the films stay on mostly like part of the glass, not like a film on glass. Even when the film is scratched by a sharp object, it looks like the glass get scratched. The edges and corners do not peel off by itself. Actually the edges and corners got better when all the moisture are driven out, sticking to the glass perfectly.

If you follow the instructions, tiny bubbles are not noticeable, and big ones are rare. Small bubbles are more noticeable at night, but the effect is like ancient bronze mirrors with imperfect flat surface.

Tips and procedures

The window glass must be free of deposits especially at the edges and corners. For problem areas in old windows I use CLR cleaner, the biodegradable version, which is as acidic as it can be safe. I use a putty knife to scrap off the stains and deposits. They I rinse or wipe off the window with clean water. It's also important to clean the outside of the window to the same degree if possible. If both sides of the window is clean, you can see the imperfection when you are installing the film and then correct it before it's too late.

Pick small windows nearest to the ceiling to practice first. Anything larger than 2'x3' become non trivial to handle. When you work on the lower windows later on, the fluids will not drip on the installed windows.

Do not leave 1" margins for the films as the instruction says. For small glass panels like part of a mosaic, cutting to exact size (with gaps) is possible and easier way to install.

The rule of thumb is to cover the glass panel plus a few mm of edge for the cutting tools to work. The nominal margin to leave depends on how accurate you can cut. You leave large margins if you are not sure how square you can cut. There's no penalty to leave large margins, but it would be very inconvenient to work on a small, deeply recessed window.

Large windows do not make a lot of difference but you need two people to handle the film before it's in place. For one person, I hang the film on the two supporting arms of a shelf with miniature clips. Then I peel the film and spray the GILA soapy solution on it as I go along. With enough soapy solution the film will stay straight. If it's not too large I can carry the film myself and paste it on the window.

I will use a clean edge straight from the factory, cutting three edges instead of four, unless you will notice the slight variation of the gap.

Don't worry too much about tiny bubbles. You won't notice them that much.

The only way to cut is a single strong cut splitting the film in one go, without ever lifting the knife from the film. It's not possible at the corners. You have to learn to use the slots in the tool to cut the corners, then turn the tool around so you can continue the cut right down to the next corner without lifting the knife. Basically start the cut at a corner and continue in a clockwise or anticlockwise sequence. Don't cut the adjacent edges first and then the corner, or vice versa.

Actually the tool is rather reasonable if you at least try as I suggest. The alternative of cutting to exact size is out of the question for most. You need to have a big cutting board that also holds the curling film steady during cutting.