Gila Heat Control Window Film – Gila Platinum Review

[yasr_overall_rating]Gila Platinum Heat Control Window Film is an upgrade to a better known Gila Titanium Heat Control Window Film. Gila Platinum offers bigger reflectivity and higher emissivity and therefore is a better thermal insulator than the Gila Titanium.

In this Gila Platinum Heat Control review we will enlist the benefits of the heat control film that company claims and then report how well these are reflected in Gila window film reviews written by buyers available at online retailers. Finally we will present your best buying options.

Company Claims For Gila Platinum Window Film

Gila claims that its LES361 Heat Control Residential Window Film offers additional thermal insulation in winter to help retain the heat. They claim to reject 99% of the UV light, 67% of glare, and reduce fading of furniture and interior furnishings. Gila also contends its Platinum Heat Control Window Film will also reduce your summer cooling costs by an estimated 50%. Gila also claims that “Installation is simple”.

Who Are The Users Of Gila Heat Control Window Films?

When you drive through a downtown area of a major city, do you notice the beautiful metallic shiny reflections from the office building windows? This is one of the major commercial uses of Gila films, aka Gila tints. But Gila film is also available to residential customers. Especially these days with higher and higher costs of heating, anyone who lives in areas where it gets cold in the winter, including all of California, can benefit financially from Gila window films.

Anyone who loves the idea of passively heating up the house or an apartment, without money expenditures every month will find Gila films intriguing when they learn about them.

Anyone who has invested serious money in their furniture, carpeting, upholstering, and curtains, will want to take advantage of reducing the furnishings exposure to UV light, and glare, and thus reduce fading and discoloring of the surfaces.

Gila Titanium And Gila Platinum Emissivity And Reflectivity Rating: Old Titanium Vs. New Platinum

The older Titanium window film is still better known yet it is quickly being replaced by the new Platinum heat control film everywhere. The main reason is that Gila’s energy-saving platinum window film has the emissivity rating of .44, which makes it a 50% better in keeping radiative heat losses down than the Gila Titanium window film, which is rated at emissivity of .63.

You can find more info about the ratings here and you can read more about the meanings of emissivity here. Reflectivity is reverse of emissivity, so the lower the emissivity, the higher the reflectivity.

Versatility And Convenience Of Installation

As long as you know how to operate a sharp cutting knife any shape window can be covered with the Gila window film. Even if you make mistake, patching is easy and hardly visible. Despite the company claim that the installation is simple, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a a significant learning curve to do it right. It can be used on both single pane and double pane windows.

The method takes quite some practice and we suggest to get a helper to make it easier. Keep in mind that the adhesive is already pre-applied on the film. The film must be installed on the inside of the window. To double up and do the outside install, check out this 3M outdoor window kit.

Best Installation Practice

We’ll describe here the best installation practice (on top of following the Gila directions – (see Gila company video here) provided by a number of very experienced users.

Before you do anything, clean the window surfaces thoroughly using Windex. Make sure you have removed all debris especially caulking particles at the edges and in the window corners. Then carefully cut the film to size.

An experienced user suggests the following procedure that will prevent the biggest accident that can happen – Gila film curling back onto itself and gluing itself on itself. Which ruins the film totally. Pay attention because you won’t find this useful advice in the official directions for installation.

Here are the steps to apply Gila film to the window without incidents:

A) Cut the film (with liner attached) to size.
B) Get a friend to help you with the film (mainly to prevent curling of film back onto itself).
C) Before you peel the film off the liner, spray both sides with water which removes static electricity and prevents curling accidents which will ruin your film as mentioned above.
D) Before you peel the film off the liner, have your friend clip two clothespins to the bottom two corners of the film. This will allow gravity pull to help you keep the film straight.

E) Your friend starts peeling the film off the liner on top.
F) As he/she peels the film, have him/her spray the film with the adhesive generously. The more generous, the easier it will be to get rid of any bubbles later.
G) You press the top of the film in place on top of the window and proceed pressing down.

H) As you get to the bottom, remove the clothespins from the bottom and remove the last inch of the liner.
I) Finish with the film application.
J) Spray regular water on the non-sticky side of the film and use squeegy to press the film firmly to the window across the entire surface to remove bubbles.

The film is much easier to remove than to put on. You won’t be able to reuse it once you removed it. But why remove it when it can save you money both in summer and in winter?

Gila Heat Control Window Film Platinum Color And Looks

When you followed all directions to the T, you will be able to enjoy a gorgeous view outside while at the same time know you are saving dollars every day on heating in wintertime and on cooling in the summer.

Get More Privacy During The Day

As a side benefit, Gila Platinum Window Film acts as a half-mirror. This means that, during the day, passers by won’t be able to see inside your home as most of the outside light will be reflected back from the film. You will have more privacy with Gila Platinum window film with its reflectivity of 0.66. So you could be watching the passers by from the window without them seeing you at all. That is why this heat control window film is sometimes referred to as Gila Privacy Window Film.

However, this is only a partial privacy tool. The privacy feature does not work at night when there is little light that can be reflected on the outside. If you have a light inside your home, people will be able to see inside through the Gila window film at night. Worse, you won’t be able to see much outside at night, the window will look like a mirror to you! So you will still need curtains or blinds for privacy at night!

Gila Film Dimensions

Gila comes in many sizes but for the purpose of heat reduction and privacy, the 36″ x 15′ and 48″ x 15′ are the most popular sizes. We provide access to both below. Gila film also comes in bulk. Either way, it is packaged in rolls.

Features

• can be applied to any size and shape windows
• enhances privacy
• reduces heating and cooling costs
• removes UV light
• allows unobstructed view

Accessories

Gila recommends purchasing the Complete Application Kit when you purchase the film. The kit consists of the adhesive solution, squeegee, lint free cloth, and the trimming tool which is just a cutting knife.

Pros As Mentioned By Buyers

• definite savings on energy bills
• they love a mild blueish tint
• enjoy significant difference in the room temperatures
• dropped the room temperature by 8 degrees

Cons That Buyers Reported

• While installation may be easy, it takes a significant time to learn to do it right. (Check out complete directions from experienced users above).
• some felt the film was a pain to apply
• some felt lack of dexterity and patience to apply the film

Gila Window Film Reviews By Buyers

Walmart actually has an OK rating for this product, only 10 reviews and 3 out of 5 stars awarded. That is due to two negative reviews which, most likely, represent buyers who couldn’t follow directions properly. But that will not be you because you have read in this article the simple tips (see above) to make it easy to install the film like a pro without incidents.

Here are excerpts from some positive Gila window film reviews for Gila Heat Blocking Window Film Platinum:

“We felt the difference IMMEDIATELY!”

“I couldn’t believe how easy it was for me to do, with little to no help.”

Price

We have seen a lot of products out of stock in November 2014. That was right after the Polar Vortex storms. Coincidence? We don’t know. So price may easily go up as more and more people realize how much money they can save on their heating bill.

At the time of writing, prices across the online retailers were within 10% of each other.

Verdict

If you are considering buying Gila Energy Saving Window Film to keep the utility costs down in winter and in summer, we feel that the one time cost, and a small effort to install the film is well worth the trouble.