Any experience with UV window film?

[Sydpinkfloyd | 12]

So in my games room I have a window that is directly opposite a wall that houses some of my shelves. Unfortunately early in my collecting I didn’t realize the harm of this and some of my games got sunburned/faded (I’ve since upgraded most of these). Since this time I’ve moved my games to a different wall, but I’m running low on space (typical collector issue :)). 
 

I’d like to use this wall again and I’ve been looking into something like this:

https://www.3mcanada.ca/3M/en_CA/solar-security-films-ca/residential-window-films/uv-protection/
 

Has anyone tried one of these before with success? Other questions:

1. Does it darken your room at all?

2. Does it block the sun’s heat and therefore make the room colder? 

3. Most importantly, does it actually prevent fading?

Any advice would be appreciated!

[nrslam | 475]

I have used similar products and can answer yes to your first 2 questions. It helped keep the room cooler but wasn't sufficient on its own so I also added blinds. A darker product might have worked better but I also wanted privacy which the blinds provided. Preventing fading wasn't my goal so I don't know how effective it would be for that.

Wasn't hard to do with a small squeegee and was still in place 25 years later when I moved.

[DefaultGen | 5,402]

I have dark, reflective film on one window. It definitely provides some shade and cooling but after looking into UV film efficacy for ink fading, I got blackout shades too.

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

I put this stuff on my windows of the collection room last year. 

KESPEN Window Film One Way Reflective Daytime Privacy Heat Blocking Anti UV Mirror Window Tint for Home and Office, Tea-Silver, 35.4 Inch X 6.5 Feet https://a.co/d/fa6mQ6w

It definitely darkens the room and helps with cooling. But can still see outside, but makes it look like your looking through sun glasses, as expected. 

Kinda hard to make any definitive statement on fading since that’s usually so gradual you don’t notice it until you have a non-faded item to compare. But assuming it’s claim of blocking 95% uv rays is semi-true, it would definitely help.

[jettgogaming | 41]

I used something similar in my game room and found that it did block out the UV and light, however it made the window radiate a lot more heat with the film on it than without it. I didn't like that as I thought it heated up my room more than normal. So I ended up just taking blackout curtains and using thumb tacks to make sure the curtains didn't let any little bits of light through. I also invested in some UV protectant acrylic cases for all my heavies, so even if sunlight gets in the room there is an extra layer of protection.