Washington, D.C. – July 5, 2022 – The nonprofit International Window Film Association (IWFA) is doing its part during a period of power grid supply challenges and high energy prices to help consumers save money and reduce carbon emissions with a new, one-minute video that explains how window films can provide long-term energy savings year-round.

With electricity blackouts possible, as a result of high temperatures and ongoing drought in many areas of the United States, the power grid may not be able to keep up with the demand for power this summer, potentially leading to electricity shortages and blackouts, according to the agency that oversees the health of the nation’s power grid.

“If everyone jumps to one side of boat at the same time, we know what happens, the boat will capsize,” said Darrell Smith, executive director of the IWFA. “It’s a similar challenge for our aging electric power grid, when everyone demands more power at the same time, the generators may not be able to keep up and they may even crash, causing brownouts and blackouts, where everyone suffers,” he added.

“In this new video called ‘How To Keep Your Home Cooler’, the viewer is taken through the process of finding a solution for reducing the solar heat that enters a home and how to assess and access the many benefits that window film offers,” said  Smith.

The video points out that window film may reduce the amount of solar energy passing through a glass window by 55 percent or more. This benefit may reduce the amount of electricity needed as the air conditioning system struggles to achieve the thermostat’s setting during the hottest part of the day and when everyone is demanding more power from the energy grid.

Window films offer year-round energy saving benefits and last for 15 years or more once professionally installed, which often takes about a day or less. Energy prices for heating homes in winter months have doubled for such things as natural gas and forecasters expect them to to go even higher.

Window films are permanently adhered to glass surfaces and they are commonly made of multi-layers of polyester strands with various technical coatings added to enhance their performance for such things as solar heat rejection, glare reduction and blocking 99 percent of harmful UV rays.