There is something on the web page about how you can get a tax write off from it! I have super old crappy windows. I think this will be a good idea in attention to the plastic sheets in the winter. Anything that helps...

Unfortunately, the tax write off expired in December 2007. We had some people come out and give us an estimate to put the 3M window film on but it was way too expensive. This would be a much cheaper alternative. Was it hard to put on? I'd worry about leaving a bubble or some imperfection that would always draw my eye.

I've had two apartments in a row where installing an A/C was not an option, so I've used this heat control film both times. Super easy to put up (easier if you have somebody else do it with you, but I've done it by myself each time with few problems) and it helps with the heat by a few degrees (and at 95F, I'll take anything I can get.) The film in my last apartment was up for two years and looks fine still. In terms of installation, I've gotten better with practice. Luckily the film is easy to take down for up to a day or two after you've put it up so mistakes can be corrected.

And please please post more about heat control tips for renters! Thank you!

I have reasonably extensive experience with Gila window films. I’ve used them on approximately 15-20 windows in my 100 year old house, largely to protect art and books from the damaging effect of the sun.

There are a variety of Gila films. Some are sold at Lowe’s, but at the Lowe’s in my vicinity they rarely, if ever, have had the clear film that I wanted. Therefore, I have ordered rolls of that film directly from Gila.

In my opinion, it is exceedingly difficult to put the film on a window, even if there are comments to the contrary. I’m inclined to say that it’s simply impossible, yet I’ve obviously done it.

Here are my gripes: The instructions are god-awful! They lack detail, and aren’t sufficiently “instructive.” In a real world environment, they just don’t explain how a homeowner could successfully put this film onto a window.

Also, this film creases like aluminum foil. That is, once creased, forever creased. That makes it very difficult to handle, especially if you’re cutting a larger sheet for a larger window.

Furthermore, every possible speck of hair and dirt—and everything else in the universe—is drawn to these sheets by major static electricity, so I have found it impossible to get the film onto the window without sandwiching a zillion little specks (almost all invisible on casual inspection, I know) between the film and the window.

The difficulty increases as the size of the window increases (especially if you’ll be abutting films in order to cover a larger expanse of glass).

Plus, if this wasn’t sufficiently clear from prior comments, I think it’s fair to consider the film “permanent.” They say that you can remove it, but it looks like doing so would be extremely difficult.

I would love to see how a professional does this: I’m pretty skillful when it comes to these sort of things, and while I’ve gotten better at it over time I’ve never been pleased with the results. Maybe the question should be, what sort of professional does this, and how would I find that professional?

Recently, I saw an ad in the back of Dwell for a different brand of window firm that, so far as I could tell, provided essentially the same protection. Has anyone tried that brand? I think the ad may have said that this brand's firm was repositionable and/or removable. I don't see why it would be difficult to make a film like this that’s both repositionable and removable.

Sorry about the weird symbols that took the place of apostrophes in the comment that I just posted. Not sure why/how they appeared.

this sounds great, but i have a feeling that our landlord would want us to take it off before moving out. does it leave a sticky film when you remove it? might be more trouble than it's worth.

We just put this up (twice!) on our huge patio door windows (4ft wide by 7.5 feet tall each ). The first time we chose the darkest tint. Big mistake! It blocked too much light. We took it down 2 weeks later. It left a tiny bit of residue on one panel only, but then again it was only up for 2 weeks. The light tint is best.

We really needed 2 people for such a large project. The trick with the static is to spray generously on all sides of the film. The gila website has a really good video that shows you how to do it. At a few places during the video, we were like "why do you need to spray that side of the film? It doesn't need to be sprayed"...but then we found out the hard way why it really needs to be sprayed. Keeping the film wet keeps it sticking to itself (which then creates really bad creases) and also eliminates the static.

We also installed it twice on our large windows (3ft wide by 5ft tall). These were much easier to install, but still required 2 people.

I think we got very professional results. There are like 2 small strands of dog hair on the patio doors, but they're only visible at the right angle. We could have removed them, but didn't. There are no visible air bubbles either. My mom had all her windows done professionally 7 years ago, when I inspected them carefully recently, you could see tiny little air bubbles. I've never noticed them before.

Always practice on smaller windows first! And buy a lot more of that Gila spray than you think you need.

I wouldn't recommend the splicing technique they use in the video...we tried it but couldn't get an invisible seam.

We have it on our west facing windows and it's been a huge help. IT was a two person job to put up, and we did find that it folded into itself easily (with much cursing on my spouse's part before I arrived on the scene!). We have to take it off in a month (moving) and I'll be interested to see how that works....

I recently had to remove the film when we moved. It seemed to put alot of stress on the glass & was difficult to pull up at the edge at first. Afterwards, I had trouble with the adhesive that remained on the glass. It was a small bathroom window but took me half an hour to remove just half of the adhesive. My daughter then stepped in to give me a break. What is the spray that is recommended for its removal?

If it not done by expert and in proper manner then defiantly it becomes headache once I had faced same problem so I can feel this how irritated it was ?