07-10-2011, 01:58 AM
From a heat flow perspective, there's a massive difference between what is sold as a solar screen and what is sold as a solar shade.
From my understanding, a solar screen is simply mesh with a certain percentage area of holes that simply blocks a large fraction of the light (including thermal infra-red) from hitting your window. It MUST be used outside the window. The mesh/hole ratio determines how much thermal IR it blocks. If it is a reflective color (i.e. noncolored aluminum then the solid part will block almost all the heat. If it is dark-colored, then the dark mesh will absorb heat and reradiate it (partly through your window) so will be less effective.
A solar shade goes inside the window and is simply a reflectorized surface that reflects some of the IR back out.. This is already a bit of a losing proposition, since it is much harder to get rid of heat once it has gotten through the window. They can be somewhat effective, but the shade is going to heat up and will then conduct heat directly into the room air. Film on the window would be better.
You could use both and still see advantages. It's not really an either/or proposition. The screen will block a certain amount of IR from ever hitting your window. The shade (or window film) will help reflect whatever IR makes it through.
From my understanding, a solar screen is simply mesh with a certain percentage area of holes that simply blocks a large fraction of the light (including thermal infra-red) from hitting your window. It MUST be used outside the window. The mesh/hole ratio determines how much thermal IR it blocks. If it is a reflective color (i.e. noncolored aluminum then the solid part will block almost all the heat. If it is dark-colored, then the dark mesh will absorb heat and reradiate it (partly through your window) so will be less effective.
A solar shade goes inside the window and is simply a reflectorized surface that reflects some of the IR back out.. This is already a bit of a losing proposition, since it is much harder to get rid of heat once it has gotten through the window. They can be somewhat effective, but the shade is going to heat up and will then conduct heat directly into the room air. Film on the window would be better.
You could use both and still see advantages. It's not really an either/or proposition. The screen will block a certain amount of IR from ever hitting your window. The shade (or window film) will help reflect whatever IR makes it through.