INDIANAPOLIS - It's always nice to bring natural light into your home, but too much can cause problems and cost you money.
The bright light also brings in heat, and cooling bills can rise along with the temperature.
"Everybody has one or two rooms in the house that are hotter than others, and those are generally rooms with larger windows and more sun exposure especially where windows face east and west," said Angie Hicks, Angie's List founder.
Homeowner Jim Philippi of Westfield dealt with that problem for years.
"We were getting daily 7-10 degree heat gain in the house and the air conditioning could not keep up with it," he said.
Philippi hired a company to apply window film, which is a a plastic sheet that goes over existing windows.
Not only can it keep heat out in the summer, but window film can also keep heat in during the winter months. It protects floor coverings and furniture against exposure to UV rays. It cuts down on glare that can hurt your eyes or make it hard to watch television. If the window ever breaks, it acts like safety glass, holding the shards together.
It goes on easily after the windows are thoroughly cleaned.
"Anything that gets left behind while we put the film on top of it is going to be there forever. It's going to become a fossil between the film and the glass," said Kevin Koval, Solaris Window Tinting.
The benefits to window film can be big and the cost may be a lot smaller than you think. Always get a few bids, understanding that the final cost depends on the type of film you choose.
"It usually varies from $6 to $14 per square foot. The total cost is then determined by the number of windows and the size of the windows," said Hicks.
If you still need clarity on whether to put film on your windows, in some cases the federal government will help by giving a tax credit for jobs that make your home more energy efficient.
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