A friend of mine owns a gym in upstate New York. When he moved to a new location a couple of years ago, he hired a local sign shop to print and install a set of window graphics. There was a brief warm spell in mid-February (i.e., above 0°F) which the installers took advantage of to apply the graphics. Alas, a few months later, when the weather warmed up in earnest, the graphics started to peel off the window, and needed to be replaced, at the sign shop’s expense.

“Temperature fluctuations can wreak havoc with window applications,” said Jodi Sawyer, Market Development Manager for FLEXcon. Deciding when to install window films, said Sawyer, is also a bit more complicated than simply looking at the thermometer.[1]“When it comes to windows that face the south in the northern hemisphere, however, there is an even bigger challenge to consider. During winter, the sun remains low in the sky, with its light shining more directly on south-facing windows for longer periods of time than in summer. This allows for a unique situation where applied graphics, most notably dark-colored graphics, can absorb the heat of the sun more dramatically than at other times of the year.” The biggest problems occur in the morning, when the temperatures of both air and glass are at their coldest. “Dramatic temperature differentials across the face of the glass can be generated on bright cold mornings depending on the color of the graphics. Furthermore, since graphics are typically installed in the evening after stores close, the temperature differential from morning to afternoon is much greater—roughly -10°F to 50°F sunup to sundown in winter vs. 60°F to 90°F in summer. That’s a difference of 60°F vs. 30°F—twice the change.”

It was a very good year for window graphics. (Image courtesy FLEXcon.)