In today’s world, you can never be too safe, especially in your own home. While there are all manner of alarms and security systems, one of the latest advances in technology for homes is switchable glass.
What is switchable glass or switchable privacy film? It’s also known as smart glass and it’s glass that changes light transmission when light, heat or electricity is applied to it. Essentially what you get with switchable privacy glass or switchable privacy film is glass that allows you to control the amount of light that goes through it.
As you might imagine, there are many benefits of smart glass:
- Saving money: Any time you can save money on something in your home, that’s a good thing. You can install darker curtains or shades, which will get the job done most of the time. But try as you might, light can still get in and sometimes affect the temperature of the inside of your home. With switchable glass or switchable privacy film, you can save quite a bit of money on utility bills because you can control how much light comes in to the home, greatly reducing the temperature if you so wish.
- Sun protection: Another benefit of switchable glass is that it blocks ultraviolet light or UV rays. This is beneficial because you can protect your skin (and avoid sunburns) and it can prevent fading if you’ve got furniture placed near windows.
- No more blinds: By installing switchable privacy film or smart windows with smart glass, you never have to worry about buying and installing blinds or curtains again. No longer do you have to worry about washing blinds or accidently ripping curtains. Switchable glass allows you all the privacy you need because you can easily switch from light to dark. There’s also glass with automatic window tint technology, so you can “dim” the glass if you need to.
Households aren’t the only places that can benefit from switchable glass. It can be very beneficial in offices too:
- Privacy: Many of today’s offices are filled with see-through glass, which means that higher-ups and rank-and-file employees don’t get a lot of privacy. Switchable privacy film and switchable glass can give office works privacy at a moment’s notice. It also gives an office the best of both words; it can look wide open with bright, translucent glass or it can look more opaque if there are important meetings going on where more privacy is needed.
- Low Maintenance: Cleaning an office can take quite a bit of time. Switchable glass cuts down on that time somewhat because it’s easily cleaned and workers don’t have to worry about it collecting dust or becoming stained.
- Versatility: It’s been established that switchable privacy film and switchable glass offers a great deal of privacy. But it can also have other uses. It can be used as a projection screen if an office needs to give a presentation. This allows employees to easily give presentations and show movies and pictures, rather than having to buy a separate projection screen.
While there are many benefits to switchable glass, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- Since smart glass is still considered a new technology, you might end up paying higher costs for it up front.
- With electrochromic glass, the switch from “dark” to “light” and back can take at least a few minutes. This technology works by transforming the outer edges of a glass pane and then slowly working toward the center.
- Some types of smart glass requires voltage to stay transparent, which means you might run into problems if you have a power outage.
The smart glass market is expected to hit $8 billion by 2023 in the U.S. Switchable glass in a home or an office can be a sizeable investment up front, but it can also be a smart investment. It affords people a greater deal of privacy on demand compared to traditional curtains and blinds, it’s easy to maintain and in the long run, it can be a great way to save money to your utility bills come down.