Company touts window film as energy saver

A local company is selling and installing window films for cars, homes and commercial buildings that it says can cut energy costs substantially.

Joanne and Roger Nester, representatives of Advance Tinting Systems of Danville, touted their products during a meeting Monday of OPEC Not! The local group formed to find innovative ways to cut energy costs and educate consumers about new methods to control those costs.

Diane Arnold, founder of OPEC Not! and director of the Longwood University Small Business Development Center, said Longwood had one of the company’s products installed on its dining room windows and saved $1,700 a month on cooling that section of the building last summer.

The film is manufactured at CP Films in Henry County.

Joanne Nester said people typically install window film for three reasons: to reduce the amount of heat entering buildings through the windows, to reduce glare and for aesthetic reasons.

‘In the summer, film can cut up to 80 percent of the solar heat coming in the windows,” she said. “It can save you a lot on your air-conditioning bill.”

Roger Nester demonstrated how the film is applied and the couple let members of the group feel the difference window film can make by letting them put their hand in front of regular glass covering a heat lamp, then changing the glass to one covered with film.

“You can really feel the difference right away,” Arnold said.

To find out more about the many kinds of window films available, contact Advance Tinting Systems at (434) 792-2382.

Contact Denice Thibodeau at or (434) 791-7985.