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Car Window Tinting Cools the Arizona Sun
By gguild | June 4, 2008
The difference car window tint makes is impressive
People who live in and enjoy the Arizona sun know how hot it can get, especially in an automobile. If you have not yet experienced what a difference car window tint can make, you are in for quite a surprise. It doesn’t take a lot of window tint to make a lot of difference. Window tint can provide more comfortable interiors, better protection from the sun and increased privacy inside the vehicle.
Comfort is the first reason for car window tinting
Car window tinting can lower the interior temperature of your car several degrees—up to 60% of the difference. Parked in the sun, it does not take very long for internal temperatures to exceed 140 degrees when the windows are up. With window tinting the time it takes to heat up is longer and the temperature probably would never get as hot as it would without tint. The source of the heat is from infrared radiation transmitted by the sun. Although glass reduces the transmission of the shorter wavelengths of ultra-violet light from the sun, the longer wavelengths of infrared light passes through without slowing down much. So, it is the comfort of keeping away from the sunshine’s heat that first attracts us to window tinting. Tint makes more of an impact by reducing the burning effect of infrared on the skin.
Protection from damage is the second reason — but there’s more!
Ultra violet light is known to damage the skin and cause skin cancers to form. Research demonstrates that drivers are more prone to skin cancers on the side closest to the window. Automobile window tinting can reduce the amount of ultra-violet rays that reach the skin by up to 99%! For that benefit alone, window tinting is a tremendous value. However, window tinting provides a few other benefits. For example:
• If you suffer a broken car window, the tinting is strong enough to hold the glass together, which protects the car’s occupants.
• Auto window tinting provides some security and privacy for you and the contents of the vehicle.
• The combination of both ultra-violet and infrared rays—added to the extreme heats the summer sun can generate–not only ages and cracks the vinyl and other materials inside the vehicle, it also ages and cracks the skin.
State-by-state window tint laws determine how much window tint should be used
How much car window tint can be used on a vehicle, and on which windows, is governed by state law. In Arizona, one of the nation’s “sunniest” states because of its desert climate, the law states that the combination of the vehicle’s glass in the front side windows, tinted or not, and the film put on it must allow more than 33% of the light the pass through. That means that the net of the car window tint and glass cannot deflect more than 67% of the light, maximum. There are no restrictions on the darkness for the rear side windows and rear window. Any color can be used except for red-amber. States also govern how reflective car tinting material can be and in Arizona the tint used cannot be more than 35% reflective.
Car window tinting not only makes a person feel more comfortable but also is healthier for the skin. Further, it adds to the privacy and security of the people and things that occupy the vehicle. The difference car window tinting makes on a hot, sunny day is remarkable and can be sensed as soon as the car tint gets between the occupants and the hot sun. Car window tinting is one of the best, cost-effective purchases a person can make for his or her automobile.
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