Preventing Bird Strikes with Plastic Film on Low-E Glass
oldbungalow
| Posted in General Questions on
We’re thinking of applying perforated plastic film (it’s PVC) to the outside of some windows doors that are getting birdstrikes. From the outside the window appears white but from the inside it’s transparent. If the windows are Low-E (2 or 3) would there be any issues? SW exposure, will def. get some sun.
something like this-
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Replies
The low-E coatings are all on the INSIDE surfaces of the panes (except for i89, which goes on the interior -- towards the living space -- side of the innermost pane of the IGU), within the IGU, so you won't have a problem putting something on the outside surface. The outer surface (towards the outdoors) of the outermost pane in the IGU should just be glass, so the low-E coatings won't change anything from the perspective of a sticker or film you want to stick on the outside of the window.
The only issue you may have over time is that some of the bird-visible decals I've seen gradually turn to goo with long-term exposure to sunlight. I've been able to clean off that goo using acetone when needed, just be sure to keep the acetone off of the window frame.
Bill
thanks, goo would not be good. these are "clings" so no glue, hopefully OK. My other concern was a whole window-film, though perforated, could that overheat the window b/c of the Low-E and cause seal failure? Or maybe the film actually decreases incident light/heat.
I doubt you'd have any problem from the whole-window film. I can't be sure if the film would absorb or reflect additional light, so it's hard to know if it would heat up or cool off the window. I doubt very much any change would be enough to really make any difference in the life of the window though.
I think a film would be harder to remote though, so I'd try the "clings" first. My dad has even used painter's tape in the past.
Bill