My house is on a very small, very quiet cul de sac, and hardly anyone walks past it. This is a good thing, because I don’t have a front garden and if anyone does walk past they can look right into my living room. I’m clearly not suited to life as a goldfish, because having people looking in at me bothers me. Then again, I’m one of the lucky ones; on the fairly short walk from my house to the town centre I pass dozens of homes that aren’t on very quiet cul de sacs.
They all have very nice living rooms. Some of them have nice bedrooms, too. I know this, because I can look in their windows.
So if you’re fed up of passers by using you as impromptu reality TV, what are your options? The simplest way is to just keep the curtains or blinds closed, but that tends to make your home a little on the gloomy side, unless you turn the lights on – and with the cost of electricity these days who wants to do that? Luckily, there’s another solution.
Privacy Window Film.
You’ve probably seen one-way mirrors in films or on TV. These use specially coated glass so light will pass through in one direction, but be reflected in the other. It’s possible to give normal window glass this same ability by fitting it with a special film. Variously known as reflective film, mirrored film or daytime privacy film, this turns your existing windows into one-way glass.
There are two main kinds of privacy film. Frosted film works in any light conditions, but it blocks the view from both directions. It does let most of the light pass through, keeping your room bright, but you can’t see out. For most people a better option is a film that, as long as there’s more light outside than inside, has a reflective appearance on its outside surface. You can see out normally, but anyone walking past will just see their own reflection.
The big advantage of reflective film is that, from inside, your windows work normally. It doesn’t distort or blur your view; the only difference you’ll notice is that a little less light gets in. From outside, though, unless someone comes right up to the glass and cups their hands on it to block the light, all they’ll see is a mirrored surface.
That brings up one thing you do need to be aware of with these films; they’re called daytime privacy films because they only work during the day. Because the mirror effect depends on the light balance between inside and outside, when the sun goes down and you put the lights on it’s possible to see in. Of course, at night there’s nothing to stop you closing your curtains.
Bonus Security.
Reflective window film keeps your life out of the public gaze, and it has another benefit, too. Burglars like to wander around residential areas looking for homes worth robbing. If they see valuables through a window, that house will be marked for future attention. Privacy film means potential thieves won’t see your computers, antiques or other precious belongings, and that can spare you a nocturnal visit – or even an opportunistic smash and grab.
The modern world is a busy, crowded place, and it feels like privacy is increasingly hard to find. If you want to preserve your home as a place where you can relax away from it all, mirrored window film is something you should seriously consider.
Almost all of the window film that Cheltenham Home Tinting installs has a certain degree of privacy inherently built in (be it energy saving or heat reduction film) but we can also install pure privacy film as discussed above. If you have any questions at all please feel free to contact us and we will be more than happy to run you through your options.