It has a clashing and clanking sound when it gives itself to violence. For this reason, most of us think of window glass as a transparent, fragile, thin material. It is not exactly a material to serve as the door of a bunker, which is the reason why burglars tend to pick it as the weakness of the apartment or house. Is it worth accepting that? By no means! There is a solution even to this problem: security window film that can provide a protection against damages caused not only by humans.
First reason to use security window films: burglary
Our home should remain the place where we feel safe and comfortable. In Hungarian language, we have a separate word for this feeling: homelike. Unfortunately, events of the world behind the door sometimes flow through walls and make unsuspecting citizens realize that it is better if they are prepared for dangers.
The first such threat is caused by burglaries mentioned in the introduction. Did you know that in the US, such unexpected event occurs every 18 seconds? We can easily ignore this because we are talking about a country of the size of a continent. Yes, but another statistical data can be more expressive: according to this, 20% of the population in the US inevitably becomes victim of a burglary at least once during their life. But the situation is not better in Hungary. Although criminal statistics in Hungary have had a decreasing trend for years, 200,000 crimes are still committed in Hungary annually. (If you live in Budapest or in Heves or Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén counties, we have bad news for you: you have the highest chance to become a victim of a crime in these regions.)
Do something against burglaries!
Of course, the revival of active and passive systems protecting homes is due to this phenomenon. Today, installing motion-sensor lamps and cameras is not considered to be a privilege anymore, and houses can be easily “wired” even to the police. But most of these will activate when damage is already done, and there can be only compensation.
It is important to know that burglars are usually not the calm, cool-headed executors who are usually depicted in movies. They need only a noise, an unexpected event, and if they feel that circumstances started to deteriorate, they immediately stop what they started. Due to this psychological fact, the security window film is an effective way of protection: according to calculations, it can slow the mean-spirited intruder even by two minutes, and as time passes, and they are still not close to the loot, the burglar tends to give up their intention and leave the spot.
Second and third reasons: weather and unexpected events
Researchers say that in Hungary – probably due to climate change – more and more extreme weather conditions are to be expected in the following years and decades. If this is true, it is better to get prepared against an earthquake or an extremely heavy windstorm.
But if no unforeseen events occur from the outside, household accidents can still affect window glasses, and the sight of dangerous shards of glass scattered around the floor is not a nice sight. There is a better reason if we have a child at home: they can be easily injured by the sharp shards scattered around – a little distraction and we can easily find ourselves going to the general practitioner on duty at night with a crying and frightened child instead of participating in a cheerful family program. Is it not better to prevent this by using a window film?
This is how security window films work
Window films – applied onto the windows from the inside by a professional in order to have documentation that can be useful in case of a possible damage later – hold broken glass pieces together, therefore shards of glass can be prevented. So, first, there will not be a hole in the window large enough to allow a burglar to intrude into our home; second, we do not have to expect pieces of glass scattered around. It is an important fact that these window films have an invisible effect. So, we can reinforce our windows without making an unacceptable compromise. Furthermore, some of these products even have a heat reflective function. For this reason, the use of versatile films is strongly recommended.
Getting an “A” in the range of films
It is good news that more and more types of such products are available – some of them even have more functions than we have originally thought of! For example, in addition to having a high level of tensile strength and tear resistance, the 3M™ Safety S40 security window film significantly reduces incoming UVA-rays as well, preventing color fading. The specialty of the 3M S70 security window film is that it is extremely thin but strong, while the 3M™ Safety and Security Window Film Safety Series is comprised of weatherproof stable polyester films and has an anti-scratch surface.
In addition to these, there are security films available that are proven to resist gusts of wind of even 270 km/h and high wind. (Although sometimes banal everyday situations can also be sources of danger – such as the case of football kicked from the garden and accidentally landing in the middle of the window…)
It is better to be prepared than to be scared! Everyone is much smarter once damage has occurred, but the truly wise step is to get a step ahead of dangers. We can have more to gain than just calmness. Material damage caused by a burglary can be several times heavier than what the damage prevented by the film and the window glass broken but held together mean.
