Reporting Randy Paige
STUDIO CITY (CBS) — A SoCal woman says the energy efficient window installed in a neighbor’s condominium is melting the plastic components on cars parked in her carport.
Heather Patron of Studio City was dealing with a mystery regarding her Toyota Prius.
“The side view mirrors were melting,” says Patron. “Anything that was plastic on the car was melting.”
Toyota told Patron nothing was wrong with the car. After having the mirrors replaced, she noticed the mirrors on the car parked next to hers were also melting.
Patron then observed a powerful beam of light that was reflecting off the window of a next door condominium, casting a concentrated beam over her carport.
CBS2’s Randy Paige placed a thermometer in the pathway of the beam on a partially cloudy day. The temperature registered over 120 degrees in less than five minutes.
“I’m positive that this window is what is causing the damage to my car,” says Patron.
Patron is not alone. Reports across the country have alleged damages brought on by concentrated sunlight reflected off of energy efficient windows. The National Association of Home Builders is now conducting a study on the matter.
“I just don’t feel like it’s fair,” says Patron. “I feel like it needs to be known that this is happening. And a lot of people probably have damage out there, that they aren’t aware that it’s the windows that are causing this.”
The Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety says even if the window is the source of the damage, there are no code violations involved. The department says it’s not against the law to install a window that reflects sunlight.
463 Comments
When is the right time to drop comprehensive and collision coverage on an old vehicle. The general rule is when the cost of comp and collision exceeds 10% of your old vehicle’s value, that’s the time to dump it and just have liability coverage. You can check your coverages using “Clearance Auto” online
January 25, 2012 at 1:00 am | | Report comment
How about an asbestos blanket?
January 25, 2012 at 1:22 pm | | Report comment
Easy fix.
Make the person with the reflective window park his/her car there.
January 25, 2012 at 4:10 pm
careful – hot plate!
January 25, 2012 at 7:06 pm
How about a brick?
January 26, 2012 at 7:43 am
How about taping a mirror on there reflecting the beam back to the the offender’s house, car, lawn furnature, etc…
January 26, 2012 at 11:42 am
This is happening to my car as well, but its the passanger side window moldings in between the doors that are melting. I don’t park in a carport. I park in a parking lot next to other cars, there are no large buildings with reflective windows close to me….
January 26, 2012 at 12:58 am | | Report comment
120 degrees F is not that hot! It gets hotter than that in Vegas all the time and I don’t see any cars melting there….
January 31, 2012 at 12:55 pm
Has anyone asked if this could start a fire. If it was 120 degrees on a cloudy day, how hot does it get on a sunny day?
January 26, 2012 at 10:02 am | | Report comment
Wow, brilliant randy!! There is nothing like sticking to the topic at hand. Please, shower us with more of your ADD inspired dribble.
January 28, 2012 at 2:44 pm | | Report comment
why not just get car covers that protect against some of the suns light beam so it doesn’t get to hot and not melt anything on the car that is made of plastic.
January 25, 2012 at 2:06 am | | Report comment
If it’s hot enough to melt the plastic on the car, it’s probably hot enough to melt a cover you put on it as well.
January 25, 2012 at 7:39 am | | Report comment
There are fabrics that would not melt. Ironing board cover fabric, for one. I’d be concerned about the cover concentrating the heat inside it. Simplest solution, paint the mirror plastic a light color.
January 25, 2012 at 9:39 am
Place a convex mirror on the car’s mirror casing and reflect it back to space or target the intense beam of light back to the neighbors house and let it burn.
January 25, 2012 at 10:11 am
Phillip, are you serious, dude? How’s that to be done on the car you’ve bought; buy a can of Krylon from a hardware store and spray-paint it? Something like this can cause enough damage to end up in a court case, and it probably will. Why should people who park in a carport, and who don’t have any other solution for where to park their cars, be subject to this? It’s also not necessarily the homeowner’s fault; but, I’ll guarantee you that the manufacturer will get listed on a lawsuit, and the cost of these windows will not only go up, it may make them unpalatable for the manufacturer to even offer them for sale.
January 25, 2012 at 11:38 am
I wonder if this would fall under the phrase “light polution”. In any case something needs to be corrected, preferably by the HOAs and leave the government out of it .
January 25, 2012 at 12:45 pm
Phillip, concentrating UV rays from the sun is different than what the ironing cloth board can normally withstand.
January 25, 2012 at 1:05 pm
OK, OK! NOW we know where “global warming” is REALLY coming from! AHA!
January 25, 2012 at 1:10 pm
Ha! It would melt it if made of plastic or make it decay quickly (concentrated UV) to shreds, if made of canvass or any other material of vegetal-fiber origin.
January 25, 2012 at 8:00 am | | Report comment
A biodegradable car = Algore’s fantasy. It may also be vegan approved.
January 25, 2012 at 9:09 am
JIm, there has been a problem with some newer cars using a vegetable based insulation for the car wiring. My daughter had a wiring harness under the hood of her Honda eaten through by mice or rats. That was when we learned of this “bio insulation.” Luckily her dealer replaced it under warranty.
January 25, 2012 at 9:49 am
@ Tugboat: Most plastic covered wires are made of a soy-based plastic. Rats & Mice just love this! Free food! And it comes in all these scrumptious colors!
January 31, 2012 at 9:22 pm
If it is true that the plastic insulation on wiring is made from “soy”… Then, no doubt, it is GMO soy. Hence, said rats are doomed to expire in agony. Just one of the fringe benefits of Franken-non-legislation.
February 1, 2012 at 1:03 pm
How bout just move the car.
January 25, 2012 at 8:04 am | | Report comment
The car is in a carport. Those aren’t easy to move.
January 25, 2012 at 8:26 am
“Mysterious window breakage baffles local residents of condos…story at 5…”
January 25, 2012 at 8:34 am
As “Republicrat” says, the car is in a carport, which seems to mean a small roof without walls. Couldn’t a partial wall be added at the spot where the beam is heating the car, to block it? Perhaps just hang a small rug, or a blanket or towel, from the carport roof at the right spot. Even a piece of cardboard would do it.
January 25, 2012 at 8:54 am
Or build the side-view mirrors out of solar panels that power the car.
January 25, 2012 at 9:26 am
If you have never lived in a condo, you have no idea of the hassle it is to change or erect anything on the exterior. There are myriad rules governing what condo owners are and are not allowed to do, and my guess is that the HOA would not allow any sort of walls, temporary or permanent, to be erected on the carport. In addition, if it’s like the condo I live in, parking is limited.
January 25, 2012 at 9:38 am
Why should I have to move my car because my neighbor is beaming destructive energy onto MY property? It may not be illegal, but it is a tort. The homeowner with the destructive windows is liable for the damage, and should be required to mitigate the damage. They should be made to shield their destructive windows, or build a wall for my carport.
January 25, 2012 at 11:53 am
To Mannie,
The person with the energy efficient windows did not install them with malicious intent. The fact that with windows reflect sunlight was not intended to melt their neighbors car windows or mirrors.
January 25, 2012 at 12:16 pm
Have you ever tried parking in LA? She has a dedicated space, she’ll kinda have to use it.
January 25, 2012 at 12:31 pm
Put up a cardboard wall, when it catches on fire and burns up your car you might have a case. If you had a dried up leaves or grass there wouldent that be a hazard?
January 25, 2012 at 6:03 pm
How about just remove the offending windows? Someone other than the car owner is the one causing the problem.
I like the idea of of using an array of parabolic reflectors sending the light back to the building. Call it an artistic display.
However, just have the owner of the offending building install a screen at the carport.
January 26, 2012 at 4:40 am
I’m with you.
It’s not the owner of the Condos issue.. Just another californian complaining about how someone else is not living the way they want them to.. oh gee… whine cry.
The energy efficient windows kind of trump your cheap plastic.
January 26, 2012 at 12:18 pm
its merciful for anything as ugly as a prious to melt
January 25, 2012 at 8:16 am | | Report comment
So, How can you tell it’s melting? They look that way on the show room floor.
January 25, 2012 at 8:36 am
My sentiments exactly.
January 25, 2012 at 8:43 am
The Toyota Pious is indeed an ugly car! toyotapious.com
January 25, 2012 at 9:41 am
They melt like a Salvador Dali watch!
January 25, 2012 at 10:57 am
The Prius gets an average of 500 miles on one tank(10 Gallons) of gas.
January 25, 2012 at 1:01 pm
An energy efficient Death Ray? I can get behind that!!
January 25, 2012 at 8:59 am | | Report comment
waiting for this. This was the result of a super hero battle that took place. shhhhhh
January 25, 2012 at 12:09 pm
Install a mirror….
January 25, 2012 at 9:43 am | | Report comment
…and bounce it right back to them.
January 25, 2012 at 9:46 am
Why don’t you come out and put it on and take it off when I call you up?
January 25, 2012 at 9:49 am | | Report comment
Because the issue is that the window is shining light on the carport making the building hot. Covering the car doesn’t keep out hot air. If the building is hot the objects inside are hot unless there is climate control. She would have to paint the building with reflective material to negate this issue, or open the building to more airflow.
January 25, 2012 at 10:00 am | | Report comment
Better yet, install solar collectors on both sides of the car. The power absorbed can run the radio and maybe even the dome light. Is that sustainable or what?
January 25, 2012 at 10:39 am | | Report comment
Why not just break the window?
January 25, 2012 at 11:27 am | | Report comment
.223 golf ball shooter.
January 25, 2012 at 5:10 pm
Either a light colored car cover or a carport should do it. In the alternative, clean the junk out of the garage so that the car can be parked indoors.
January 25, 2012 at 11:47 am | | Report comment
It’s in a carport genius.
January 25, 2012 at 4:08 pm
Sarah, what’s a carport genius, genius?
January 25, 2012 at 11:36 pm
If it is hot enough to melt plastic on cars, then if a building with these windows is next to your house or your business, you will be paying more in cooling and painting more often. Think about one of these buildings next to a playground or school.
January 25, 2012 at 12:30 pm | | Report comment
How about Toyota builds cars that don’t melt. Cars that melt…geez.
January 25, 2012 at 1:06 pm | | Report comment
Not to up on the research and development that goes into designing cars, eh RH?
January 25, 2012 at 3:53 pm
@ Randy Another General Rule is to Dump your Old Vehicle AFTER the Repair Costs Exceed 40% of its Original Value, starting with Day 1
January 26, 2012 at 7:26 am
So I should have to buy a car cover, then have to put it on and remove it because of someone else???
Please…..
January 25, 2012 at 3:52 pm | | Report comment
Yep.. Or you can always arrange to have a different carport.
Why should someone change out an expensive window over your cheap plastic.
January 26, 2012 at 12:20 pm
The same issue with reflective damage is happening to vinyl siding on homes. When insulated pane windows have their interstitial space filled with an inert gas, the reflectance issue ends. Without this, or grill spacers between sheets of glass, the outer sheet of glass deflects creating a parabolic which concentrated the natiral soolar reflectance. This effect increased by glas which has been treated with low-e properties which reflect a greater amount of the solar energy.
January 26, 2012 at 5:24 am | | Report comment
That’s only true if the outer glass were stressed to a warped mode that makes the parallel waves from the sun CONVERGE at a point or in this case maybe only a line. In any case just flat glass deflecting does not create any kind of parabolic as you stated.
January 29, 2012 at 1:13 am
get a real car not made out of plastic and all is good
January 25, 2012 at 5:15 am | | Report comment
The car isn’t plastic. The side view mirror casing is.
January 25, 2012 at 8:14 am | | Report comment
STOP buying plastic cars. LOL
January 25, 2012 at 9:50 am | | Report comment
Good luck finding a vehicel that has something other than plastic rear view mirror casings. They are on everything from all Ford trucks to mini coopers. Even if they did take your suggestion and modify their mirror casings the paint on the car would still suffer accelerated burn-thru. The reflective problem has happened before and been outlawed by many locations back when it was just foil being put up to drop the heat on closed-in porches. Reflective material is just rude as a building material. Even the best new solar panels now come in black.
January 25, 2012 at 10:19 am | | Report comment
My car does not have plastic. It was built in 1962.
January 25, 2012 at 12:11 pm
But if you don’t make the car out of plastic it weighs too much and won’t get the “energy efficient” mileage; what use is it then?
January 25, 2012 at 10:45 am | | Report comment
Now imagine these clown-cars in a collision.
January 25, 2012 at 11:39 pm
Forget the car… If you were living next to one of these buildings then you would pay more in Air Conditioning and anything you have in your lawn would be at rist. Your grass and trees could die. If you had a school or playground next to one of these buildings, children could fall out from heat exhaustion in minutes.
January 25, 2012 at 12:34 pm | | Report comment
You should be able to park your car without having to erect a defense against death rays.
January 25, 2012 at 5:20 am | | Report comment
It is just “reflecting the sun” not magnifying it. That “death ray” is already there.
January 25, 2012 at 7:41 am | | Report comment
concentrated sunlight i.e. “death ray”…
January 25, 2012 at 8:01 am
It’s a mirror array! What a feminine hygiene product you are.
January 25, 2012 at 8:08 am
“magnifying” is probably not the right word, but it can increase the intensity. The car is already in direct sunlight, and then some supposedly super-efficient window is reflecting as much light as possible, and now the car is getting almost twice as much sunlight as is natural. Also, if this building is large and the window panes are not 100% parallel, the light reflected by two of the panes can eventually overlap.
The glass is not going to be 100% efficient, but the whole point of it is to reflect as much energy as possible rather than passing or absorbing it.
January 25, 2012 at 8:13 am
Carl said, “The car is already in direct sunlight…”
It’s in a car port. It’s probably safe to assume the car port has a roof, thus not putting the car in direct sunlight.
January 25, 2012 at 8:21 am
“The department says it’s not against the law to install a window that reflects sunlight.” So why not install a window on the carport that returns the sunlight to the condo. Condo burns down, no more problem.
January 25, 2012 at 9:21 am
Mark, great idea! However as the sun moves it might be more than one mirror, so it would need to be a tracking device. And you wouldn’t need an energy efficient window to reflect it back–a strong mirror would do just fine.
January 25, 2012 at 9:30 am
So why don’t they melt everywhere outside in the sunlight?
January 25, 2012 at 9:50 am
when you remove the air for vacuum insulation it causes a concave glass surface with a very long focal length. Excellent for damaging the neighbors plastics.
January 31, 2012 at 1:19 pm
Agreed!
January 25, 2012 at 10:22 am | | Report comment
I know right…
Will someone please turn off the SUN.. so my car doesn’t get faded from its death rays.
January 26, 2012 at 12:22 pm | | Report comment
CNN had a story a couple of months ago about home siding on houses on the east coast melting because of the same reason. Those homeowners found out that this type of damage was not covered by homeowners insurance either.
January 25, 2012 at 5:34 am | | Report comment
How is it not covered? What policy language are you talking about? Under an all risk policy there must be a specific exclusion for something to not be covered. If it is a named peril policy I can see how it might be denied but If they have a decent insurance company with an average policy, it should be covered. I would think the insurance company would cover it and then subrogate against the owner or manufacturer of the windows.
January 25, 2012 at 7:58 am | | Report comment
The vinyl siding on our house in Michigan warped and melted from the neighbor’s “low E-coated” windows. I observed what I’d call a “concentrated reflection” and it easily exceeded the 120 degrees F maximum on my thermometer. I researched our vinyl siding and found a rated melting point of about 150 degrees F so in our case the temperature was probably 150+. Our homeowner’s insurance would not cover the loss because “sunlight is an act of God” and therefore excluded under our policy. I certainly agree that sunlight is an act of God. We had to pay thousands to upgrade from vinyl to cement fiberboard siding which has a much higher melting point than vinyl siding. One of our windows is doing the same thing to our neighbor on the other side, but at a slower rate. We notified the developer of our newer subdivision who didn’t seem to care that this is happening all over our neighborhood.
January 25, 2012 at 8:45 am
If we didn’t build housing like we lived in Japan, it wouldn’t be a problem. Stacking homes and apts on top of each other. Don’t worry, you won’t be able to drive in the city , anyways, with 10,000 people every square block.
January 25, 2012 at 6:19 am | | Report comment
To be fair, this is a problem that I’ve only seen happening in the suburbs. If they lived in the city, the car wouldn’t be parked right next to the neighbor’s window. I refuse to buy a home on anything less than half an acre. If the homes are far enough apart, this isn’t a problem.
January 25, 2012 at 7:43 am | | Report comment
Made in the U.S.A……by Slyndra.
January 25, 2012 at 7:37 am | | Report comment
Those windows aren’t parabolic – they aren’t “concentrating energy.” They are just reflecting it, and the intensity is less than if the car is sitting in full sunlight.
January 25, 2012 at 7:41 am | | Report comment
Yeah, but in a thermodynamic sense, they are now getting nearly twice the energy on them as before, since they have the original sunlight, from well, the sun… and now they have another source of energy from the windows (from the sun again) heating it up from another angle.
Personally, even then that seems kind of lame, that the plastic would melt at such low temperatures anyway. I could live with it if the temp was getting up in the 300 to 500 degree range, but 120? Come on! What type of plastic are these cheap little cars made of?
January 25, 2012 at 7:56 am | | Report comment
Troy said 300 to 500 temp range could melt plastic not 120. 120 can melt some plastics each plastic is made of different cemicals. Like ABS has rubber component and can be melted at a 120 it would be a slow process at this temp but it is possitble. 300 to 500 temps are used on plastics like polycarbonate or fiberfilled plastics.
January 25, 2012 at 6:02 pm
Thats my thought.. how do people deal with them in places such as Las Vegas? Cheap cheap plastic… that’s what it boils down to.
Ever get into a Honda Civic… then get into an Audi.. you can tell the difference in the grade of materials.
January 26, 2012 at 12:25 pm
Obviously not.
The melting is real. The windows are reflecting most of the sun’s energy. Any small deviation in the flatness ofthe window, and it IS parabolic, thus will concentrate the energy on a small spot. This is called”pillowing” and is a normal, known defect of modern windows.
January 25, 2012 at 7:57 am | | Report comment
the “chemtrail spraying” has amplified the suns rays into a global warming death ray
January 25, 2012 at 8:30 am
It may be parabolic – though, that’s highly doubtful – but…
1. The direction of the curve matters – if it’s bulging outwards, then the reflected energy would be disperese, not concentrated.
2. Assuming an inward curve, the focal point of the shape would be highly unlikely to be right where the Prius is parked. Further, if mere “pillowing” would cause enough energy to melt plastic from a great distance, then someone’s missing out on a great – and cheap – power supply.
January 25, 2012 at 9:17 am
Thank you! How long can the windows possibly be reflecting light on her car, anyway? The Sun does move in the sky….the light would change position….
January 25, 2012 at 8:01 am | | Report comment
RJ, you’re going far beyond the realm of liberal tree hugger comprehension! Plastic melting at 120 degrees? Uh, No.
January 25, 2012 at 8:25 am
Maybe it was reflected sunlight that brought down the WTC!
Surely we can find some foil hat types to buy into that.
January 25, 2012 at 10:47 am
Long enough to melt the plastic, hero. The sun doesn’t “race” across the sky, ya know…
January 25, 2012 at 3:55 pm
Sorry, but you are incorrect. I have worked in the window industry for many years and i believe that I know what is happening.
The windows are insulated, meaning there is an air pocket trapped between two panes of glass. The LowE coating is on the outer surface of the inner pane, in the air space, When sunlight heats the air between the panes, it expands and raises the pressure. That causes the glass to flex slightly making the surface slightly parabolic. This would focus it at a distance comparable to the space between homes.
I have seen damage many times
January 25, 2012 at 9:17 am | | Report comment
WHAT A CROCK OF OBAMA!!!!!!!!!
January 25, 2012 at 9:22 am
Then there is the famous “Death Ray” at the city center in Las Vegas pool area. The report was out in 2010 about people having extreme sunburns from the concentrated sunlight pouring over the area. Google “Las Vegas City Center” and “Death Ray” and you will see the article. Concentrated sunlight can cause damage and should be managed beyond just saying deal with it to the one with the damage from someone’s “special” windows.
January 25, 2012 at 10:28 am
The expaqnding gas would make the reflective surface convex, dispersing the light rather than concentrating it.
I suspect it’s just a flat reflection on a hot day, adding energy to an already hot black plastic housing. I also suspect this is a near-borderline condition. There’s just barely enough energy to cause a problem, but that’s like being a little pregnant.
January 25, 2012 at 11:59 am
I too have seen this exact effect from LowE windows. I watched it happen on a house two doors down in real time. The light was reflected at a house about 24 feet from the window, which in turn heated and warped the siding in a manner that followed the movement of the sun.
This problem IS going to cause a fire, somewhere, sometime.
January 25, 2012 at 12:26 pm
Sorry but you are not correct. The dual-paned glass units are filled with Argon for better insulating properties (per the insistence of the Federal Dept. of Energy). The seals on the insulated glass unit (the double-paned glass) are good enough to stop air from leaking in, but NOT good enough to stop Argon from leaking out. The result is that the window panes collapse inward, creating a parabolic surface. The sunlight hits the parabolic window and the reflection gets concentrated onto the Prius. I am 85% certain this is the problem. This problem was studied in the late 1990′s during the Clinton administration..
January 25, 2012 at 2:19 pm
LOL! I love it when liberal tree huggers cause each other problems. One Green Earther installs windows to cut down energy usage indoors, reflecting the energy back out into the environment melting another Green Earther’s energy effcient vehicle! The irony is so delicious….
Hey Prius lady, put solar panels on your cars plastic parts and use it to charge the battery. If it works, then thank the guy who put in the reflecting windows. Heck, give him some of your gas savings money since he helped.
January 25, 2012 at 7:51 am | | Report comment
Pious lady should give him some of her carbon credits instead LMFAO
January 25, 2012 at 8:06 am | | Report comment
Yes,yes, yes, and the tree huggers whose trees grow to block the neighbor’s solar panels…love it!
January 25, 2012 at 10:02 am | | Report comment
Well said, Troy! Libs defeating libs!
January 25, 2012 at 3:57 pm | | Report comment
Take the condo to small claims court for damaging your property. It doesn’t matter if they built to code, you are not allowed to damage other people’s property.
January 25, 2012 at 7:52 am | | Report comment
Car manufacturers need to focus on raising the melting points of their plastic components. Make plastic components with the same material used in the hot engine bays, literally attached to the engine block with temps as high as 200 degrees F. These reflecting windows are not amplifying the sun rays, they are not parabolic. Blame the car manufacturers for being cheap.
January 25, 2012 at 7:53 am | | Report comment
I’ve got an idea. How about just paint all the plastic parts silver? The reflective coating would reflect (and in a variety of directions because of curvature, so no secondary focusing) the majority of the sunlight and only a tiny fraction of that melting-hot beam of light would be absorbed as melting heat.
January 25, 2012 at 8:51 am | | Report comment
Windows can concentrate the light if they are not perfectly flat. One of my standard windows (not intentionally reflective) melted a line in the snow across my neighbor’s lawn as the sun rose. I noticed that the window was a bit concave, so it absolutely did concentrate the light like a magnifying glass.
January 25, 2012 at 7:54 am | | Report comment
Buy a car painted completely in silver metallic paint. Problemo solved.
January 25, 2012 at 7:55 am | | Report comment
120 degrees shouldn’t be melting the plastic. It gets that hot in some areas of the country every summer. I have a feeling that there is something else at play here. The windows may be bowed causing the light to be concentrated, definitely not allowable as it would be a fire threat.
January 25, 2012 at 7:55 am | | Report comment
This is real; those darn energy-efficient windows where burning dry the lawn in my backyard and some rosemary bushes on my front-yard. When reflecting sunlight at an angle per the sun’s elevation over the horizon, those windows were concentrating it much the same as a magnifying glass. I had those windows removed when the “solutions” the gardener offered was much more expensive: either pave or install solar panels over the entire swath of the reflection-path for the entire year, as the sun inclination varies throughout the seasons.
January 25, 2012 at 7:55 am | | Report comment
Good thing it wasn’t a Government Motors Volt or it would have caught fire & burned down her house.
January 25, 2012 at 7:56 am | | Report comment
Does she sue the neighbor for installing them or the sun for following an arc in the sky which causes her car to be in the line of fire at certain times?
January 25, 2012 at 7:57 am | | Report comment
Maybe she should try to sue God for creating the sun?
January 25, 2012 at 8:29 am | | Report comment
Before she sues, she’ll blame Bush, throw the race card, and say Republicans are terrorists.
January 25, 2012 at 4:00 pm | | Report comment
She should set up a mirror and reflect it back . haha
January 25, 2012 at 7:57 am | | Report comment
That’s what I was thinking; reflect it back right on her vinyl siding above the window!
January 25, 2012 at 9:09 am | | Report comment
Al Gore unavailable for comment.
January 25, 2012 at 8:00 am | | Report comment
Swap your car for a VOLT, deflect the ray of light to a solar panel, recharging the Volt, sell the excess power to the Grid, taking the income from the excess power and buy stock in Carbon Footprint Incorporated. Worship Obama and eat tofu bon bons for the rest of your life.
January 25, 2012 at 8:01 am | | Report comment
The Volt should be renamed The Coal, since that’s really where it gets most of its energy.
January 25, 2012 at 10:59 am | | Report comment
Just block the light and stop crying to your local tv station.
January 25, 2012 at 8:01 am | | Report comment
Damn Enviroterrorists. Melting everything they can.
January 25, 2012 at 8:07 am | | Report comment
“I just don’t feel like it’s fair,” says Patron
Whenever I hear someone use the word “fair” I know I am dealing with an immature crybaby.
January 25, 2012 at 8:08 am | | Report comment
As opposed to a MATURE crybaby?
January 25, 2012 at 12:08 pm | | Report comment
Well a Mature cry baby wouldn’t be blaming their woes on everyone else and actually figure out a way to fix it themselves..
Boo hoo.. cry me a river! “His windows are melting my POS car!”
January 26, 2012 at 12:31 pm
This just in. Energy efficient windows are now considered to play a significant role in man made global warming/climate change. Warren Buffet said to be investing heavily in the single pane glass window industry.
January 25, 2012 at 8:08 am | | Report comment
“120° in five minutes?”
Given the fact that the Earth revolves on an axis, I highly doubt that the reflected rays are directed against this woman’s vehicle long enough for a mere 120° to cause a problem.
January 25, 2012 at 8:08 am | | Report comment
CLEARLY it’s Bush’s fault…
January 25, 2012 at 8:09 am | | Report comment
Sorry but this doesn’t add up. A window that is reflecting sunlight can’t be reflecting more energy than it is being hit with. Even if you created a magical mirror that reflected 100% of the energy that hit it, you aren’t going to be generating energy… so if the mirror is melting because of sunlight reflected off a window it should also be melting from just sitting in the sun.
The only way you could get more heat from the windows if is multiple windows were all arranged so that they all reflected onto the same spot thus magnifying the amount of energy…. if that is the case then she should just learn to park her car somewhere else away from that magical point.
January 25, 2012 at 8:10 am | | Report comment
Your comment is simply not true.
Have you never used a magnifying glass to light paper on fire?
You can do the same thing with the bottom of a coke can if you polish it up real good… you can do it with ICE even….
If the surface of the windows is curved in any way, and it may be if it’s design is to capture sunlight for solar purposes, it most certainly could be directed to a concentrated point.
That being said.. any prius owner with this complaing is just a hypocrite.
January 25, 2012 at 8:23 am | | Report comment
A magnifying glass refracts light, it does not reflect it. Well, not in the context of setting things ablaze, anyway.
If the condo’s windows are curved, they’d have to be concave, rather than convex – relative to the Prius – and, the car would need to be – at least – close to the focal point.
That’s a long shot.
January 25, 2012 at 8:50 am
Yirmin, your physics teacher did you so wrong!
January 25, 2012 at 4:03 pm | | Report comment
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I suspect that the the reflected light from those windows is all the heating portions of the spectrum (infrared). The normal amount of sunlight hitting the plastic is not detrimental because it’s designed for normal sunlight. Now take normal amount of sunlight, and add to it a component of additional infrared energy, and you melt stuff.
Plant some bushes to shade the carport, or build a garage.
January 25, 2012 at 8:12 am | | Report comment
Simple Solution – Get a job during the day and drive the car to work vs sitting at home.
January 25, 2012 at 8:13 am | | Report comment
She can’t. She works the midnight shift…at a window manufacturing plant. HAHAHAHA!
January 25, 2012 at 12:12 pm | | Report comment
I think the dingbats’ brain was what actually melted. Not just hers, but also the reporter who claims that it was an overcast cloudy day. Sure didn’t look like that to me.
January 25, 2012 at 8:13 am | | Report comment
most likely a typical defective toyota
January 25, 2012 at 8:14 am | | Report comment
Replace those black, plastic mirror housings with chrome ones.
Much tougher and they’ll just reflect off any death rays from your neighbor.
While you’re at it, replace those plastic bumpers that implode when you look at them wrong. Otherwise that overpriced “double motor” you’ve got in that hybrid will be crushed in a trivial fender-bender.
Better still, sell that toy car and buy a real one built back when they were tougher. You could probably pay off your car note and come away with cash in hand. Before 1996 is best.
January 25, 2012 at 8:20 am | | Report comment
A prius owner complaining about someone using alternative energy, it doesn’t get better than this.
Typical liberal, it’s great until it negatively impacts them.
Same reason why they want wind turbines… just not in their backyard.
January 25, 2012 at 8:20 am | | Report comment
How are good windows “alternative energy?”
I have the most efficient windows I could find, merely as a cost-savings measure.
January 25, 2012 at 8:00 pm | | Report comment
Pingback: Woman claims energy efficient windows are melting her Toyota Prius? « Bizarre World News
It may not be illegal to install the windows but that doesn’t exempt you from the damage they cause.
January 25, 2012 at 8:22 am | | Report comment
The home owner isn’t causing the damage, its the sun… who is she going to sue, God? Well being California, I guess that is probably what she will do.
January 25, 2012 at 9:06 am | | Report comment
Never misunderestimate the intellectual capacity of a liberal CA tree hugger. Or the total lack thereof..
January 25, 2012 at 9:34 am
Sounds like a “great idea” james….another bs lawsuit.. get a life and move the car. duh!! Just like the rest of the “libs”, “I don’t like it so I’m going to sue you for damages”.
January 25, 2012 at 9:15 am | | Report comment
Sounds like an opportunity. If my neighbor puts those windows on his house, I might not have to heat mine.
January 25, 2012 at 8:26 am | | Report comment
Get a white cover that reflects light. Then have an expert check it out. Then sue.
January 25, 2012 at 8:27 am | | Report comment
Add some solar panels to the plastic sufaces and charge the batteries!
January 25, 2012 at 8:28 am | | Report comment
Oh, ‘it’s not FAIR” – what an utterly ridiculous comment. It’s an unintended consequence that they apparently did not foresee – it’s hardly an issue of fairness. If your car is damaged you should be compensated but let’s not start whining about civil rights or issues of fairness you silly twit!
Between the media and these pathetic whiners that they constantly interview they just make Americans look like the biggest babies!
January 25, 2012 at 8:29 am | | Report comment
+1
January 25, 2012 at 8:50 am | | Report comment
stupid hippies
January 25, 2012 at 8:31 am | | Report comment
i hate jews/jesus
February 1, 2012 at 8:36 am | | Report comment
i hate republicans
February 15, 2012 at 11:08 am
stupid hipsters
February 15, 2012 at 11:11 am | | Report comment
Pingback: More Unintended Consequences : America's Right
Throwing rocks at cars is not in the building code either, so prosecute damage under other statutes. Car owners should give thirty days written notice by registered mail to owners of destructive, reflective windows and doors.
January 25, 2012 at 8:36 am | | Report comment
Be careful buying these windows now. The government will have them classified as death ray generators & the ATF will be marching on homes all over the country.
January 25, 2012 at 8:36 am | | Report comment
I have seen this personally, the anti UV & infared properties along with the double/triple panes involved, their separation distances act as magnifiers. Had this happen with reflected light melting a neighbors vinyl siding. The vinyl siding company knew of this & sent reports on how it occurs in certain conditions. The solution was to put a visor/sun shade over the window involved so at the time of the day that it was happening the window then shaded. Problem solved. Not too expensive.
January 25, 2012 at 8:40 am | | Report comment
It had to happen sooner or later — the battle of the energy savers.
January 25, 2012 at 8:41 am | | Report comment
WOW! Ever heard of parking elsewhere? HOW NOVEL? How about a tree between the buildings? The fact is, if the car is melting, under any conditions… it’s not the window that is at fault… it is the manufacturer of the car… In this case, Obama’s “Government Motors” OUR tax dollars at work.
January 25, 2012 at 8:41 am | | Report comment
Perhaps it’s just the sun coming through the window of the car itself. Obviously, this woman has never owned a 1974 Ford Maverick with a black vinyl interior. Used to have to drape a towel over the steering wheel in the summer so that I wouldn’t burn my hands trying to drive home from work.
January 25, 2012 at 9:14 am | | Report comment
Really? You think The “TOYOTA” Prius is made by GM? (shaking head) Sad…
January 25, 2012 at 10:44 am | | Report comment
OMG energy efficient windows are causing global warming!
January 25, 2012 at 8:43 am | | Report comment
Maybe they can get the government to step the chemtrails and cloud up the sky so her car will be ok ….. a new tax … that’s the answer.
http://911essentials.com
January 25, 2012 at 8:44 am | | Report comment
I’ve seen this exact same thing happening with the windows that are melting the vinyl siding of the neighbors’ houses. Not surprising that it’s happening with the Plasticus.
January 25, 2012 at 8:44 am | | Report comment
Car manufacturers have to add “parking next to energy efficient windows in southern California” to their hot-weather trials and.or use a better grade of plastic.
January 25, 2012 at 8:49 am | | Report comment
Place a strip or short piece of reflective tape on effected area of side mirror molding. Or tape it off and spray coat it with a reflective paint.You could maybe aim it so the “beam” reflects back at the window.
January 25, 2012 at 8:55 am | | Report comment
Oh. It takes a special paint to paint plastic.
January 25, 2012 at 8:57 am | | Report comment
People in this country have White People problems. Which is NONE, so we have to make up stuff to complain about. WHAAA!
January 25, 2012 at 8:56 am | | Report comment
What a stupid black racist comment. Go be ashamed of yourself child Rev King would be ashamed of you for making such a comment.
January 25, 2012 at 10:41 am | | Report comment
I love it!!! All these environuts will do each other in !!! This could not be funner!!
January 25, 2012 at 8:56 am | | Report comment
A “code” is not needed to get compensated, the Nieghbor’s actions (putting in that window) caused damage to the Woman’s property, she would win a lawsuit regardless of what the “code” was.
January 25, 2012 at 8:57 am | | Report comment
Actually, the argument against that would be she should park her car in a different area, as the owner of the condo was protecting his investment by installing the windows. He cannot leave his unit without windows, as it would cause damage., and he did nothing illegal by installing them. She, however, by parking her car in the same spot over and over when she knows there may be an issue, is incredibly stupid.
January 25, 2012 at 9:10 am | | Report comment
@lisag What part of “her Carport at a Condo” is confusing to you? Condos with carports have assigned parking. The owners of each condo unit have paid for their spot as part of their contract. What makes you think she could just steal someone else’s spot by convincing them that their car should take the heat for hers?
January 25, 2012 at 10:37 am
It’s what you get for buying that piece of garbage…
January 25, 2012 at 8:58 am | | Report comment
The environmentalists pushed for a “green” car to save the planet. Now the Sun (whom some environmentalists worship) is killing this stupid idea. Wonderful!
January 25, 2012 at 8:59 am | | Report comment
So what’s to be done here??? Get rid of your Windows/Prius as My Greeness is Greener than your’s.
January 25, 2012 at 9:06 am | | Report comment
This isn’t as far-fetched as you think. My sister lives in an area where the houses are relatively close together (maybe 30 feet apart?), and the reflection of the sun from her neighbor’s windows actually melted her vinyl siding. Sounds crazy, but it’s true. Think about it – you can start a fire by concentrating sunlight through a piece of glass. Why wouldn’t reflected sunlight melt plastic?
January 25, 2012 at 9:07 am | | Report comment
Serves her right for buying that overpriced POS.
January 25, 2012 at 9:08 am | | Report comment
New Discovery show… Battle of the Green Technologies”
January 25, 2012 at 9:08 am | | Report comment
New Discovery Channel show… Battle of the Green Technologies”
January 25, 2012 at 9:09 am | | Report comment
Environmentalism gone wild! Pretty soon there will be a story about this intense reflected light melting eyeballs. Run for your lives.
January 25, 2012 at 9:10 am | | Report comment
Is there a problem with plastic components on any car melting in the desert southwest such as southern NV or the lowlands of AZ where temps are regularly quite high? If not, then I’d suggest you complain to your manufacturer regarding defective merchandise.
January 25, 2012 at 9:16 am | | Report comment
No code violations? Maybe not.
Private cause of action for damages? Absolutely.
January 25, 2012 at 9:17 am | | Report comment
Sounds like all that excess “energy efficiency” could be used to power some boilers or something…
January 25, 2012 at 9:19 am | | Report comment
Energy-efficient window duels with energy- efficient car. News at 10.
January 25, 2012 at 9:20 am | | Report comment
Put a mirror on the car and just point the beam back at the neighbors window or better yet front door
January 25, 2012 at 9:23 am | | Report comment
“I just don’t feel like”… “I just don’t feel….” Spoken like a true liberal. Fee-lings, nothing more than fee-lings….
January 25, 2012 at 9:25 am | | Report comment
This is an opportunity to turn a negative into a positive.
She need to place a water heater in the spot where she parks her car.
She can get free hot water, thereby reducing her electric/gas bill.
January 25, 2012 at 9:30 am | | Report comment
If the reflecting glass is flat, it should never get hotter than direct sunlight.
January 25, 2012 at 9:32 am | | Report comment
Heat coming off the windows is raising the earths temp….it’s burning a hole in the ozone as well….Global warming is a hoax….The Sun is getting hotter and we live on a molten lava planet…..Stupidity should be painful….
January 25, 2012 at 9:35 am | | Report comment
another unintended consequence of environmentalism. Now there’s an inconvenient truth.
January 25, 2012 at 9:36 am | | Report comment
I hope the window owners sues the Smug Prius owner for stealing energy from her windows.
January 25, 2012 at 9:36 am | | Report comment
Are these people all brain damaged as well? JUST PUT UP A SHEET OF PLYWOOD EITHER IN THE SPACE ABOVE THE CARPORT WALL OR ON THE WINDOW ITSELF. The building is unoccupied.
“Instead of fixing the problem remedy the cause of the problem.” Life 101.
January 25, 2012 at 9:43 am | | Report comment
Use a mirror to reflect the light source back onto the neighbors property.
January 25, 2012 at 9:46 am | | Report comment
Bottom Line is this:
Energy efficient windows is causing global warming and/or climate change.
January 25, 2012 at 9:49 am | | Report comment
So wouldn’t these energy effecient windows contribute to global warming? I mean look at the heat they are giving off.
January 25, 2012 at 9:54 am | | Report comment
I’m just laughing reading through these comments…. And people wonder why the country is in so much trouble!?!? There’s nothing worse than an opinionated half-wit with a bad cause of verbal diarrhea.
Someone commented about something not being “fair”…LOL! Must have watched the State Of Obama’s Campaign last night.
You don’t need to cover car ports. You don’t need find exotic materials. And you don’t need to ban the windows. On a side note, it is NOT the fault of the windows… it’s the sun stupid. I imagine this problem does not occur at night…
A simple window canopy that is designed based on the angle of the sun at the particular time of day and season that this problem occurs is all that is needed. It will block the suns rays (the real culprit) from hitting the window and reflecting onto the car. Not only does it stop the problem but it will also further increase energy efficiency for the home owner.
“It’s not fair…” Are you kidding me?!
January 25, 2012 at 9:56 am | | Report comment
Put a mirror up and reflect the sunlight on the neighbor’s house
January 25, 2012 at 9:56 am | | Report comment
I’m sure it’s not a criminal issue, but certainly the owners of the energy efficient windows are civilly responsible for the damage. A
January 25, 2012 at 9:58 am | | Report comment
She should mount a large parabolic mirror directly across from the window and turn it into a death ray!
January 25, 2012 at 10:00 am | | Report comment
120 degrees F is melting her mirrors? Are there a lot of mirror casings melting in Vegas and Mohave during the height of the summer heat? I would bet that some of those black mirrors in the direct sun reach temps above 120 degrees.
January 25, 2012 at 10:00 am | | Report comment
What is happening here is that energy efficent windows contain a “low-e” film, which is a very thin metalized coating, which reflects the suns rays and makes the windows a bit like a mirror. We all should know what you can do with a mirror in strong sun light.
What is especially funny is both the stupidity of the writers of this story and most of the commenters, who have no clue what is happening.
January 25, 2012 at 10:01 am | | Report comment
Hey Steve, re your comment;
“..We all should know what you can do with a mirror in strong sun light.
What is especially funny is both the stupidity of the writers of this story and most of the commenters”
This is certainly true when it comes to your comments. Just what is it that you can ‘do with a mirror in strong sun light’ by the way? Go try a little experiment you dolt. Take a mirror outside and try and heat something up with it using sunlight. You are aware that whatever reflects off the mirror will be less than the direct sunlight itself, right?
Oh, maybe you were thinking of a parabolic mirror. In which case you should have said so, but the windows are not parabolic, and certainly not to the extent even if they were, that could remain in one spot with a ‘heat ray’ since the ‘hot spot’ would be rapidly moving due to the sun’s movement.
Energy generating mirror arrays not only have to be shaped specifically for sunlight concentration, but track the sun as well.
And whatever idiot said that expansion of the gas between panes would cause a parabolic curve is also a dolt. Such an expansion would bow the window pane OUT in the center, not suck it IN. You would disperse reflected solar spectrum energy instead of concentrating it.
And finally, why is it that every other Prius on the road has a tail light out? Toyota ‘quality’ once again. Maybe there is a short in the mirror positioning mechanism or some other source of direct or reflected heat.
January 25, 2012 at 11:16 am | | Report comment
What a bunch of nimrods. I cannot believe the low level of discussion. Look, no one said the Max Temp was 125F. That happened to be the temp achieved by a hand held thermometer on a partially cloudy day. This is southern CA after all. Yes, a bowed window can concentrate heat from the sunlight. Duh! It is not the owners fault though her use of the word “fair” really irked me. Fair has nothing to do with it or usually life in general. Insurance companies? Hah! They will always deny. She or her company needs to bring suit and that will get some attention and action! Mere complaining is like water off a duck’s back. She should not have to modify her car or car-port to stap damage being caused by someone else’s negligence. So please, raise the level of this discussion to something above 3rd grade or cut it off.
January 25, 2012 at 10:06 am | | Report comment
@the engineer—–Do you mean bring it up to your level of discussion. 4th Grade?—-”stap damage”.what the heck is that?. The fault lies with the sun,after all it is the main factor involved. Let’s start there shall we? Lawsuit? GOOD GRIEF!
January 25, 2012 at 10:39 am | | Report comment
It seems unlikely that any of the component would melt. Since the window is obviously not a parabolic reflector, there’s no “concentration” of light. Moreover, as the sun angle changed, the light would no longer be on the vehicle. Remember that the sun angle changes at 15 deg/hr, so the amount of time the vehicle is exposed is limited. Most plastics will withstand temps well in excess of 250 deg F for an extended period. Anyone parking their car outside in AZ or TX knows that the inside temp can be over 150 after eight or nine hours of sunlight, but the dashboard doesn’t melt. Sounds like an attempt to make some money to me.
January 25, 2012 at 10:07 am | | Report comment
hmm sounds like you need to place a solar pannel where the sunlight hits to power the fan installed in the carport to cool the plastic…..
January 25, 2012 at 10:08 am | | Report comment
The window is installed on a vacant condo. It doesn’t sound like anything that a little black window-paint, or a brick, wouldn’t fix.
January 25, 2012 at 10:19 am | | Report comment
LMAO!….This wouldnt have anything to do with the fact that cars like the prius and volt are complete P.O.S.????….nah that couldnt be a factor!
January 25, 2012 at 10:20 am | | Report comment
What an absurd comment from the Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety. Just because there is no technical code violation does not mean people are free from liability. This lady can, and probably will, sue the neighbor (or more specifically, their homeowner’s insurance company), which will then turn around and sue the manufacturer. Windows that concentrate light are inherently dangerous. This was just a melted side mirror, what if that beam of light was focused on something more flammable?
January 25, 2012 at 10:23 am | | Report comment
What was absurd about it? They didn’t say she was free from liability. They only said there isn’t a code violation. Get a grip on yourself.
January 25, 2012 at 10:48 am | | Report comment
As a mechanical engineer, I can atest to the phenomen. These windows do not reflect light in a planar fashion. Although they are flat, there is some parabolic focusing happening. When I walk my dog past a local condo, the heat transfer from reflection of the windows is greater than from the sun directly. It is truly an odd thing to see my shadow be cast TOWARDS the sun…
January 25, 2012 at 10:23 am | | Report comment
Jeez, just fold the mirror in. Not a big deal.
January 25, 2012 at 10:25 am | | Report comment
You can’t fold away the entire mirror housing, genius. It has to stay attached to the car where it is. Even if it’s folded in, that just exposes a different part of the plastic housing.
January 25, 2012 at 10:51 am | | Report comment
I’m not buying it. The plastic on cars can easily take heat in excess of 150 degrees.
January 25, 2012 at 10:26 am | | Report comment
It’s not just the surrounding air temperature. If it’s BLACK PLASTIC and is exposed to two suns’ worth of radiation (direct sunlight plus the light reflected from the window), the plastic may reach temperatures well in excess of the boiling temperature of water.
January 25, 2012 at 11:45 am | | Report comment
Person installs energy efficient windows to be environmentally responsible. Said windows direct concentrated sunlight to increase surrounding temperatures aggrevativing global warming. Said windows also cause melting and volatilization of noxious chemicals. LMAO!!!!
January 25, 2012 at 10:31 am | | Report comment
If she was smart she would capture all that heat and use it for free. Of course the key word is SMART.
January 25, 2012 at 10:32 am | | Report comment
It could take only a few minutes to melt the plastic as the sun moves through its daily arc, but that is not enough time to make it worthwhile to capture the energy.
January 25, 2012 at 10:50 am | | Report comment
Knew it. Only a matter of time until all of the so called “green” advantages are revealed to be as damaging to the environment as the “evil” oil they are menant to replace. Just a different set of problems.
January 25, 2012 at 10:35 am | | Report comment
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Pingback: House Windows Melting A Toyota Prius
“Energy efficient windows melt Prius……”
You can’t write comedy like that. It just has to happen.
January 25, 2012 at 10:43 am | | Report comment
Complaining about reflected light from another building? More Americans are becoming plain lunatics..
January 25, 2012 at 10:45 am | | Report comment
A curved window that reflects most of the light can, indeed, concentrate the sunlight just like a magnifying glass. Ask any ant you know.
The Law of Unintended Consequences strikes again. But the real issue isn’t that the windows are “energy efficient.” It’s the curvature of the glass that is doing it.
January 25, 2012 at 10:46 am | | Report comment
Some glass is more transmissive while other glass is more reflective.
Energy efficient windows are more like to be reflective.
January 25, 2012 at 10:48 am | | Report comment
If the car is parked in the sun and the reflection from the window is also hitting it, the car may be effectively seeing two suns’ worth of heat, beyond the design specification for the materials. The windows wouldn’t even need to be curved for this to happen.
January 25, 2012 at 11:42 am | | Report comment
its called …………..ROCK TO WINDOW
January 25, 2012 at 10:47 am | | Report comment
We live in Moreno Valley in our housing developement all homes have energy efficient windows, I have noticed that certain patches of grass seem to die off every year. One day as I mowing the grass I felt very intense heat I soon realized that it was a reflection from our neighbors windows much the same as whats is being described in your atrical.
January 25, 2012 at 10:48 am | | Report comment
Plant…a… tree….
January 25, 2012 at 11:18 am | | Report comment
I suspect the grass is dying for lack of CO2 in the air. Plants need CO2 to live — and those thoughtful liberals have all but outlawed CO2. But that’s ok. Plants, which thrive on CO2, give off oxygen, which ANIMALS (including people) need.for their survival. So kill all the grass and trees, and eventually you’ll kill all the liberals too. Fair enough exchange.
January 25, 2012 at 2:52 pm | | Report comment
Damaging your neighbors property is a tort ( civil crime ) and continuing to damage your neighbors property after you are aware you are doing it is a criminal crime.
Just because it is not a violation of a municipal building code does not mean it is not a violation of some other criminal or tort law.
January 25, 2012 at 10:48 am | | Report comment
How about the car owner install a mirror that reflects this concentrated beam of light back at the homeowner’s window? Seems like a simple and inexpensive solution.
January 25, 2012 at 10:56 am | | Report comment
You are talking about a stupid liberal using good judgment and common sense. She would rather seek a government solution at some “rich person’s” expense
January 25, 2012 at 11:08 am | | Report comment
Piece of junk Toyota!
January 25, 2012 at 10:57 am | | Report comment
Ever notice how liberals see life through the eyes of a 4 or 5 year old? They claim to be hyper-intelligent and they love to say the word “intelligent” and claim all their friends are “intelligent.” Then they use another one of their favorite words like “icky.” Words a 4 year old uses. This silly liberal woman was duped into believing she would be relevant in society by owning a Prius. A liberal “green car” ruse. Now she claims the plastic melting on her car is “not fair.” Yet another claim a 4 or 5 year old would make. Is it any wonder liberals think of government as their Mommy and Daddy? To save our country from these pathological useful idiots we must take away their right to vote.
January 25, 2012 at 10:57 am | | Report comment
Love it! Now if we could just get all the neighbors to line up and cook their dinners off these reflective windows that would really make the environmentalists happy! Besides, the plastic these mirrors are made of are a derivitive of petroleum which means more profits for dirty oil. Maybe they should make the mirrors from a soy based plastic!
January 25, 2012 at 10:57 am | | Report comment
Talk about killing two birds with one stone (I mean windmill). If they use soy-based plastic and the plastic melts in the reflected sunlight, the enviros can eat the soy-based plastic for dinner! Why not? I see soy-based everything else in the grocery stores nowadays. Must be very tasty.
January 25, 2012 at 2:47 pm | | Report comment
Pingback: Report: Energy-efficient windows melt cars | JunkScience.com
“The department says it’s not against the law to install a window that reflects sunlight.” . . .
Ah, perhaps it is time to outlaw this? It is a fire hazard and is destroying others’ property. It is time to make the owners pay and to change the code.
Marijuana was legal at one time too – now it is not. Things change.
January 25, 2012 at 11:00 am | | Report comment
Pingback: Neighbor: Energy efficient windows are melting my Prius « Publius Prime
Pingback: Real Estate News » Blog Archive » House Windows Melting A Toyota Prius
One cannot help but see a good bit of irony in this story….One “green’ Earth friendly device destroying another “green” Earth friendly device….One Earth Conscious person fighting with another Earth Conscious person over the damaging effects of their “green” solar windows. Sort of reminds me of the stories about windmills killing thousands of birds and bats…not to mention the multitude of insects that go splat on the blades….To dam funny….
January 25, 2012 at 11:10 am | | Report comment
I had my Prius 1 year and had the engine stall. I towed it in, its all good now….dealer replace the big rubber band and the hamster on the spinning wheel had a stroke, so I got a gerbil upgrade at no charge. Replaced all that under warranty.
January 25, 2012 at 11:16 am | | Report comment
Why doesn’t the owner of the Pius use her sun-catcher to channel the life giving forces of Ra into some kind of containment unit and sell it along side the patchouli oil and vegan flip-flops at the next occupy protest?
January 25, 2012 at 11:16 am | | Report comment
I say you save energy cost by installing the windows but your homeowners should be be mde to pay meaning you save on energy but pay more for the insurance
January 25, 2012 at 11:16 am | | Report comment
Pingback: Energy-efficient windows are melting my Prius, woman says - TECHNOLOGY GADGETS – TECHNOLOGY GADGETS
LOL, Those liberals are at it again, never taking into consideration those pesky little unintended consequences. Wait until the landfills are full of Mercury from the liberal lightbulbs, you know, the ones no one disposes correctly? Wait until all that mercury from the landfills seeps into our water supply! Sure one lightbulb may not matter but look around your house, how many lightbulbs do you have? Then multiply that by the billions around the world. Then again, since when do liberals think about the future? They are too stuck in the past and present! Calling them “progressives” is an oxymoron!
January 25, 2012 at 11:21 am | | Report comment
Fight! Fight! Fight! Let’s see the snaggletoothed enviro-loons start mixing it up and smashing mercury-laden CFLs over each other’s heads.
January 25, 2012 at 11:24 am | | Report comment
I’d rather watch that than the Super Bowl!
January 25, 2012 at 2:42 pm | | Report comment
Nuttier than a fruitcake, but soooo entertaining. Green loons gone bad.
January 25, 2012 at 11:38 am | | Report comment
I think most people here are totally missing the point. If these windows can melt the plastic on a mirror like that what would happen if a neighbors window shined on an object IN my house via an opened window and set it on fire?!? the possibilities are endless as far as fire hazards go. Can it catch a car’s interior on fire sort of like a magnifying glass? That certainly is what it sounds like to me.
January 25, 2012 at 11:42 am | | Report comment
Do you have screens on all your windows? If so, they’ll interfere with the light enough to make it unlikely to be the cause of fire.
January 25, 2012 at 12:19 pm | | Report comment
Hey double nickel, these windows aren’t melting anything. This woman is a nutcase. How do I know? Simple, she owns a Prius.
January 25, 2012 at 11:47 am | | Report comment
The problem could be fixed (at considerable expense) if window manufacturers used slightly convex glass panes that would tend to spread reflected light, instead of concentrating it.
January 25, 2012 at 11:52 am | | Report comment
Yeah, wouldn’t that make the world look great from inside the house!
And think of the added cost to do that – it’s a lot harder to make glass window panes any other shape than flat.
Plus, consider that the light that did get into the house would now be focused on one point…
January 25, 2012 at 12:18 pm | | Report comment
couls this be the cause of some of the fires breaking out everywhere?
January 25, 2012 at 11:58 am | | Report comment
They should start placing solar water heaters where her car is…
January 25, 2012 at 12:03 pm | | Report comment
Yeah, so they could have hot water for the 10 minutes that the sun reflects off that window onto that exact spot.
January 25, 2012 at 12:16 pm | | Report comment
According to the CBS hack that wrote this drivel, the car being a Prius makes it more relevant somehow. Idiots.
January 25, 2012 at 12:03 pm | | Report comment
The following chart shows the Celsius melting point of different plastic the lowest being PVC (sprinkler pipe) converted to 240 F and the highest PET at 500 F. I doubt that the plastic on the car is PVC. These are oven temps I doubt that it was window reflections that caused this. Just another example of a cal-bot looking for a law suit.
The melting point of HDPE (High Density Polyethelyne) is about 130 ºC
The melting point of LDPE (Low Density Polyethelyne) is about 110 ºC
The melting point of PET (Polyethylene terphthalate) is about 250—260 ºC
The melting point of PP (Polypropylene) is about 160—170 ºC
The melting point of PS (Polystyrene) is about 70—115 ºC
The melting point of PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) is about 75—90 ºC
January 25, 2012 at 12:05 pm | | Report comment
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“The Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety says even if the window is the source of the damage, there are no code violations involved. The department says it’s not against the law to install a window that reflects sunlight.”
She can still sue under common law.
January 25, 2012 at 12:07 pm | | Report comment
Why does every mundane issue immediately become a political liberal/conservative football? How insane are you people?
“oh look, a huge Italian Cruise Ship went aground and rolled on it’s side due to the grandstanding incompetence and ego of the captain”
reply
“Yeah, well that’s the kind of leadership you will get if Newt Gingrich becomes president and Romney only cares for the rich people that run the cruise ship line and…blah blah blah, ad nauseum”
Idiots. I don’t care which side of the political spectrum you are on, SHOCKINGLY, not EVERYTHING in life should precipitate an immediate discussion of politics, you over opinionated, under educated, dolts!
A massive solar flare just erupted, it must be a left over consequence from George Bush’s presidency.
January 25, 2012 at 12:12 pm | | Report comment
Don’t be ridiculous.
The solar flare was the fault of the Tea Party, Reagan, Millard Fillmore, and Abraham Lincoln.
January 25, 2012 at 12:15 pm | | Report comment
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Get in line to bring suit against my client, the Sun.
I’ll move for jurisdiction-based dismissal.
January 25, 2012 at 12:15 pm | | Report comment
If these owners of the “melting car”s bought genuine made in the USA cars and not the Jap “rice burners” and “euro junk” they drive, they would not have any problem.
January 25, 2012 at 12:16 pm | | Report comment
Would that be the ‘genuine made in USA’ GM cars with approx 40% of their content outsourced off shore, which required a multi billion bailout by taxpayers? Or the massive number of ‘Japanese’ cars that are manufactured right here in the USA?
Yet another moron with opinion and no education who is COMPLETELY clueless about teh current auto manufacturing industry.
January 25, 2012 at 12:24 pm | | Report comment
As I recall, it is the cheap plastic enclosure around the Chevy Volt’s battery that allows the battery to burst into flames. A Japanese competitor uses a substantial metal box around the hybrid’s battery — hence, no fires. Sorry, but GM has been turning cruddy cars for decades.
January 25, 2012 at 2:37 pm | | Report comment
Plant trees along the edge of the Parking Lot. Trees are nature’s air conditioners.
It’s called “Landscaping”.
January 25, 2012 at 12:21 pm | | Report comment
if it’s that hot from reflected sunlight off energy efficient mirrors, this is clearly a key contributor to global warming. cars don’t normally melt when sitting in a carport
January 25, 2012 at 12:30 pm | | Report comment
Now playing at your local theater! “Battle of the Environmentally Friendly Devices”! Starring Barack Obama, Al Gore, and a cast of 50 rescued polar bears! Rated R! Watch in 3D horror as triple-pane windows melt the hybrid cars sitting innocently in the parking lot just yards away. React in utter disbelief as the fields of windmills devour thousands of birds alive. Share the shock and pain as Solyndra CEOs toss entire crates of $100 parts into the dumpster right after cashing their billion-dollar checks from the feds. You won’t believe your eyes! You’ll even hope there will never be a sequel!
January 25, 2012 at 12:32 pm | | Report comment
To bad M&M Mars didn’t make the Prius
If they can figure out how to make M&Ms melt in your mouth not in your hands this would be a peice of cake to figure out.
January 25, 2012 at 12:37 pm | | Report comment
How to stop this,dont buy a POS prius!
January 25, 2012 at 12:37 pm | | Report comment
I’m having a hard time with this one. I’m going to guess the mirror housing is made from polycarbonate, a very common plastic. The Heat Distortion Temperature for polycarbonate is 140 to 145 degrees C, which translates to 284 to 293 F. Cars in places like Palm Springs and Phoenix are subjected to temperature approaching 120F in the summer but if cars were melting I;m sure we would have all heard about it by now. Plus, if these windows were really reflecting some 290 F of heat that woman would certainly have bigger problems than melted car mirrors. Something seems to be missing here.
January 25, 2012 at 12:41 pm | | Report comment
ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 25, 2012 at 12:41 pm | | Report comment
STOP SOETORO AND HOLDER NOW!! BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!!!
January 25, 2012 at 12:43 pm | | Report comment
Hang a few sheets of aluminized Mylar. It looks ike a miror and will reflect almost all of the sunlight. It comes in many thicknesses from a flimsy sheet to semi-rigid reflective sheets.
It may be difficult to look at in full sunlight but you no will no longer have hot sunlight heating up the car.
If your neighbor is damaging your car they owe you recompense, even if it is accidental. Talk to your neighbor and ask for their cooperation and help.
Beware the law of unintended consequences!!
January 25, 2012 at 12:45 pm | | Report comment
Oh good GAWD , tell the bimbo to put little umbrellas over her mirrors,,,
January 25, 2012 at 12:46 pm | | Report comment
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back the car in. problem solved
January 25, 2012 at 12:59 pm | | Report comment
So that puts the other side in the light, genius.
January 25, 2012 at 8:15 pm | | Report comment
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it’s a Prius…. who cares?
January 25, 2012 at 1:02 pm | | Report comment
the minimum melt temperature of automotive plastics is in excess of 180 degrees. Exterior plastics typically will not move ,sag, until 210 F plus is achieved.
January 25, 2012 at 1:07 pm | | Report comment
I had the same problem when i installed new windows and melted my neighbors siding,called the window manufacture and one month latter they came out replaced the half screens with full screens and have never had a problem since. Insurance company covered siding.
January 25, 2012 at 1:08 pm | | Report comment
“The department says it’s not against the law to install a window that reflects sunlight.”
Why not? Everything else is against the law.
January 25, 2012 at 1:13 pm | | Report comment
Who are you fools suggesting just move your car or put a cover on it? Are you serious? Ever heard of the angles of incidence and reflection? And did you know that the sun moves across the sky each day, thus continually hanging
these angles and where the sun’s rays will be reflected to next? Maybe this ever occurred to puppet fools of the green movement. So, let me help you. The reflected and intensified rays will hit a random car for a while and later hit other random objects, people, or animals in its path. This might be your home (i.e. bricks, wood), causing your energy bill to go up or your paint to peel off or your siding to melt or did that never occur to you? Will you next suggest that we should replace our bricks and siding with more reflective windows? Brilliant – more and more and infinite reflections going anywhere and everywhere. This could be your eyes when you are driving down the road, which could cause an accident, just to name one example. This is the type of insanity that we are being led to by leaders of the extremist and mindless green movement. Wake up, fools, and quit destroying our economy.
January 25, 2012 at 1:19 pm | | Report comment
Speaking of fools: “And did you know that the sun moves across the sky each day,”
Uh, no it doesn’t, the earth spins at the rate of one revolution every 24 hours. The sun is not moving relative to the earth.
January 25, 2012 at 8:14 pm | | Report comment
Wow!
120F? Mirrors melting?
Is that Prius a piece of junk?
I lived out west and a car could reach almost 200F inside and even hotter on the hood etc., and my car was not harmed, even the paint was fine.
Get a real car.
January 25, 2012 at 1:29 pm | | Report comment
I agree. I lived in both Phoenix and Las Vegas for a while. You can quite literally cook food on the hood after it’s been sitting in the sun. Surface temps would exceed 200 degrees. Manufacturers do test their cars for long-term durability to heat and sun exposure, however I expect this short test by CBS was not completely accurate. The temps on vehicles probably did far exceed 120 degrees to cause this level of damage.
January 25, 2012 at 1:36 pm | | Report comment
OK – lots of comments on this one… Although Code Enforcement can’t find a violation, the fact is it is a public nuisance and that is against the law. Whether it’s a loud party, barking dogs OR destructive reflected beams of sunlight… The neighbor with the windows is liable and can be sued for damages and correction. she in turn can sue the window manufacturer for selling a potentially hazardous product. The best solution is to simply install window awnings so direct sunlight doesn’t strike the window in the first place. Problem solved…
January 25, 2012 at 1:29 pm | | Report comment
It’s not the window that is creating the damage it is the sunlight reflected off of the windows. Who made the sunlight? Oh yes, God did. Sue God for making sunlight. Let me know how that works out for ya!
January 25, 2012 at 1:35 pm | | Report comment
@ Whiteghost – Really? It’s the man-made design of the window, it’s placement and the lack of preventative measures that is causing the damage – not God. If my neighbor’s dog barks at 2 AM and wakes me up, do I sue God because He made dogs? I rest my case…
January 25, 2012 at 1:41 pm
The sunlight was a pre-existing and known condition. It is the window that created the changed condition, not God’s sunlight. Previous window did not cause the problem.
January 25, 2012 at 1:59 pm
@Mannie You are assuming that the windows came after the neighbor’s car port.
I would think it would be similar to if a tree limb falls off your neighbor’s tree onto your car in your yard, your homeonwer’s insurance would cover the damage, at least in the state where I live. Yes, I do know this from experience.)
January 25, 2012 at 1:32 pm | | Report comment
It is not ILLEGAL to install the window. No one is saying that! It is also not lawful to cause damage to other people’s property. The manufacturer has an obligation to mitigate. This has already been legislated in Los Angeles over at Disney Hall. Their reflective panels had to be sanded to diffuse the light which was concentrating beams into the homeowner’s houses next door. they need a diffuser on the window to scatter that light out.
January 25, 2012 at 1:37 pm | | Report comment
WONDER IF THESE RAYS CAN BE HARMFUL TO US _ THEY NEED TO STUDY THAT!
January 25, 2012 at 1:38 pm | | Report comment
Yes, solar rays are dangerous. The studies are in. If you don’t believe it, stand out in the sun naked for a day in July.
January 25, 2012 at 8:12 pm | | Report comment
this is funny. i have a ideal. shoot the rays right back at the window. put tin foild around the plastic pieces and bounce the glare back. oops that wont work it would cook the plastic only in pina collada ville california. lol
January 25, 2012 at 1:39 pm | | Report comment
It’s good you suggested that because that idea does not appear in any of the many suggestions ahead of yours…
January 25, 2012 at 8:11 pm | | Report comment
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Even the sun hates toyota prius’ hahaha stupid cars
January 25, 2012 at 1:42 pm | | Report comment
Buy a Prius , Put up a Solar Panel , plug it in ,there you go.
January 25, 2012 at 1:43 pm | | Report comment
This story is absolutely true. I have seen many many times when somebody gets new replacement windows installed the reflection off them melts the vinyl siding on their neighbors house.
I didn’t believe it until L saw it.
The stuff looks like someone flashed it with a flame thrower.
January 25, 2012 at 1:45 pm | | Report comment
The window needs to go. The danger is obvious and those ignoring it could be responsible for harm to others. Just watch what happens when some young kids get burned real good or just happen to look into the beam and get their eyes fried out. Yeah even most kids know not to stare into the sun, but do we reasonably expect them to know the dangers of looking at a building? This is a hazard and a disaster waiting to happen. Ignore it and it will happen, and the responsible people should be forced to pay dearly.
January 25, 2012 at 1:48 pm | | Report comment
What if this beam of light is pointed at a gas can or propane tank? Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.
January 25, 2012 at 1:51 pm | | Report comment
Metal gas cans and propane tanks are not made of plastic. They’re built to withstand higher temperatures.
January 25, 2012 at 8:10 pm | | Report comment
Ha Ha Ha. My Mercury Grand Marquis may use more gas, but at least it doesn’t melt in the sun.
January 25, 2012 at 2:08 pm | | Report comment
Mercury Marguis cars have plastic side mirror housings so they aren’t immune from this…
January 25, 2012 at 8:10 pm | | Report comment
This is funny! Energy-efficiency means transferring the cost to others. Typical liberalism.
January 25, 2012 at 2:12 pm | | Report comment
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Funny that it’s a Prius.
If we could somehow direct the beam of light directly into the Prius’ flux capacitor, it might, just might, generate the 1.21 gigawatts of power necessary to go back…to the future!
January 25, 2012 at 2:38 pm | | Report comment
Yet another reason NOT to ever own a Prius, a ghastly, ugly, death trap.
January 25, 2012 at 2:39 pm | | Report comment
Sure, the window reflects sunlight, but will it reflect bricks?
January 25, 2012 at 2:49 pm | | Report comment
Easy fix. Just angle energy effecient windows so they reflect the sun up instead of down. It would take too mucn of an angle, and voila, no more problems (until pilots start getting blinded)
January 25, 2012 at 2:53 pm | | Report comment
There’s currently big appeal with replacing the older windows in your home with more energy efficient windows. Energy efficient windows coupled with the federal tax credit of up to $1,500 could mean big saving on energy bills in the long run and an almost immediate return on some of the upgrade costs.
January 25, 2012 at 2:55 pm | | Report comment
Thanks biff. And thanks for suggesting using other people’s money to pay for what you want to do. Do you need some new shoes? Perhaps we can pass a shoe subsidy for you. How about socks? Ditto.
January 25, 2012 at 3:03 pm | | Report comment
LOL!
January 25, 2012 at 6:53 pm
Rocks.
January 25, 2012 at 3:02 pm | | Report comment
Ok… TONS of responses here, but I have a strong hunch on how/why this happens. These double/triple-pane glass windows are sealed when produced, Under specific temperature conditions (inside vs. outside combined with rate of change for either) there is a given amount of pressue variance in the void(s) separating the panes of glass. If that pressure is ‘negative’ it can cause the glass on the outside to become slightly concave. When that happens, the reflected light is then focused at a specific point. It’s just happenstance that in this instance (and others reported), the affected item happened to be at that point.
January 25, 2012 at 3:02 pm | | Report comment
Proposed design change:
engineer some form of ‘pressure equalizition that would not allow the gas between the panes to be contaminated.
January 25, 2012 at 3:09 pm | | Report comment
It’s not a void, it’s filled with a gas such as argon.
January 25, 2012 at 8:08 pm | | Report comment
LMAO! It’s Green vs. Green.
Too funny for words really.
January 25, 2012 at 3:07 pm | | Report comment
might not be illegal right now, but give it a few months…
i have every confidence California will come up with some sort of regulation to ‘fix’ this…ha.
January 25, 2012 at 3:09 pm | | Report comment
first order of business is to require background checks for those purchasing energy efficient windows. every window must be assigned a serial number. that serial number must be micro-etched on every square inch of the glass so that if the glass is broken, each piece can be traced to the purchaser. you can not sell your windows without a state window-dealers license. you can not install more than three windows on your building at one time. permits for windows cost $500 and are subject to review. you must have a ranking member of the community vouch for your ability to use the windows responsibly. yatta yatta….
January 25, 2012 at 3:15 pm | | Report comment
Surely an environmental impact survey should be done before installing energy efficient windows!
January 25, 2012 at 8:07 pm | | Report comment
Or before installing candle wax mirror housings….
January 25, 2012 at 11:30 pm
All of you morons who live in Kalifornia deserve everything that happens to you! Someday you will all be legislated to Death!
January 25, 2012 at 3:24 pm | | Report comment
Battle of the Tree Huggers oh the irony.
January 25, 2012 at 3:33 pm | | Report comment
It is against the law to use a beam of light or any other device to destroy other people’s private property.
January 25, 2012 at 3:39 pm | | Report comment
The way you state that requires intention. Is it against the law to inadvertently destroy property with light?
January 25, 2012 at 8:06 pm | | Report comment
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Pingback: The DC Post » Woman Claims Neighbor’s Energy Efficient Windows Are Melting Her Toyota Prius
Out here in Massachusetts , those windows melt vinly siding on homes .
January 25, 2012 at 4:23 pm | | Report comment
So one EcoWeenie Product is damaging another EcoWeenie Product? Hilarious!
January 25, 2012 at 4:36 pm | | Report comment
Energy-efficient windows are common sense in some regions. I’ve saved a lot of money on heating and cooling (Chicago area).
January 25, 2012 at 8:05 pm | | Report comment
For those of you that haven’t figured it out yet, some vandal with a butane lighter was the cause. Not some solar death ray.
January 25, 2012 at 4:36 pm | | Report comment
Must’ve been Bush.
January 25, 2012 at 6:55 pm | | Report comment
Hilarious!!!
If the green windows don’t burn your Pious, the battery shorts will.
Serves these idiots right for driving golf carts instead of proper cars.
January 25, 2012 at 4:42 pm | | Report comment
I can understand the level of this discussion after seeing the location. Listen, this is a dangerous situation that needs to be addressed after looking at a less than narrow perspective. However, I am probably talking to the deaf and ignorant.
January 25, 2012 at 4:44 pm | | Report comment
I hear you.
January 25, 2012 at 8:04 pm | | Report comment
Yes, let’s have a Congressional inquiry, led by Penn State’s Michael Mann.
January 25, 2012 at 11:33 pm | | Report comment
Chuck…finally someone gets it…I agree with all of your assumptions!!
My opinion is that Technology is the culprit. Unfortunately we the American Public have played into this scam delivered by our Government and Big Business for way too long. Technology is not always a good thing.
We need to get back to the simpler things in life…our need to outdo our predecessors is tearing our country and our lives to pieces.
January 26, 2012 at 8:29 am | | Report comment
Set up mirrors and point them right back into the windows, brighten up their lives a little more. Maybe give them more heat.
January 25, 2012 at 4:55 pm | | Report comment
Another case of the law of unintended consequences, and naturally Hussein Obama is behind it, just like those Miraculous (hallelujah) Chevy Volts which catch on fire after you bump them. Or the thousands of dead birds out in California that perish EACH NIGHT when they run into the blades of those wind farms (seriously, thousands of dead birds, lol), and the mercury filled curly Q light bulbs which when broken, a call must be made to the EPA, the house must be evacuated, you need a dust max, vinyl gloves, and they have to be disposed of properly. It’s all Obama fault and pie in the sky “solar energy is the answer” solutions, lol.
January 25, 2012 at 5:43 pm | | Report comment
Hmmm… stumbled onto a better enery converter ? These windows have the wonderful properties of reflecting practically useless visible light into infra-red light !!
and at temperatures high enough to mjelt (cheap) plastic…. If you missed it , this is the holy grail of energy ~!~ Heres a simple question for yall, how do nuclear reactors generate power ??? By making enough heat to boil water is the answer. The big question is “if it can melt plastic, can it boil water? Er… even if it doesn”t, a simple curve on the reflecting material will have a focusing effect that can make the difference. Brilliant!
January 25, 2012 at 5:55 pm | | Report comment
I believe ALL of that has been done, and shown to be inefficient and subject to weather, dirt and darkness….
January 25, 2012 at 11:27 pm | | Report comment
Place a stick of TNT next to the neighbor’s house and run the fuse up to the mirror that is melting.
January 25, 2012 at 6:08 pm | | Report comment
Where can i get some of those windows? Do they work on moving targets. I have vehicles constantly speeding down the hill where I live. Very dangerous. Melting asphalt and/or tires would slow things down.
January 25, 2012 at 6:09 pm | | Report comment
You people offer such complicated ideas and ways to fix this. Me? Im all for simple and efficient. 1 rock and 1 kids slingshot. Problem solved.
January 25, 2012 at 6:26 pm | | Report comment
Now that we’ve inadvertently discovered the death ray (evil windows), it’s time to finally build that Death Star.
January 25, 2012 at 6:36 pm | | Report comment
That would be “Lady Gaga.”
January 25, 2012 at 8:03 pm | | Report comment
I always knew that Toyota made cheap plastic cars. Especially the Prius (Spelt PisonU).
Obviously Toyata should be held accountable.
January 25, 2012 at 6:38 pm | | Report comment
Can you name some cars that use metal housings for side mirrors?
January 25, 2012 at 8:02 pm | | Report comment
Prius? Ohhhh … I thought it was P-I-O-U-S, like the sanctimonious owners. Are you sure it’s not pious?
January 25, 2012 at 11:24 pm | | Report comment
I wouold like a study to see the effect on global warming. Obviously since the heat is bouncing back into the area and not being absorbed by the building. Does this affect the rise of temperatures in the locality. remember for evey action there is a reaction.
January 25, 2012 at 6:46 pm | | Report comment
Uh genius, the same amount of energy arrives onto earth regardless of how many mirrors there are.
January 25, 2012 at 7:59 pm | | Report comment
Kinda funny hearing how one greenie is foiling another. Put a wall, door or whatever on the carport, dearie; it is such a simple, practical answer no ‘progressive’ would ever grasp it.
January 25, 2012 at 6:48 pm | | Report comment
Uh genius, if you’ve ever lived in a condo, you’d know that it’s very difficult to get approval to make changes to anything to do with the outside and common areas.
January 25, 2012 at 8:02 pm | | Report comment
Heyyyy …. she could put her own windows between her and the offending windows. Then a spot in the middle might reach instant incineration temperatures. Bring weenies and marshmallows!
January 25, 2012 at 11:18 pm | | Report comment
Google Vdara Hotel in Vegas where reflective windows burned people in the hotel’s swimming pool.
January 25, 2012 at 7:13 pm | | Report comment
“Alright children, how do we spell irony?”
January 25, 2012 at 7:29 pm | | Report comment
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Sounds like the Prius is a plastic, overpriced toy. They look like toys!
January 25, 2012 at 7:49 pm | | Report comment
Most cars have plenty of plastic on them. It’s very hard to find one that has side mirrors that aren’t housed in plastic.
January 25, 2012 at 7:58 pm | | Report comment
This reminds me of the jokes about the “sunlight reflecting off the bald man’s head” and blinding people …..when they were driving, when they were playing golf, … when they were playing tennis, … etc.
January 25, 2012 at 8:07 pm | | Report comment
The Walt Disney Concert Hall Remeber this? The reflections became so hot that the buildings next door could not cool.
January 25, 2012 at 8:31 pm | | Report comment
I would recommend she buy a real car.
January 25, 2012 at 8:43 pm | | Report comment
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It may seem that will looseness of is really a a dangerous thing. But try to value the particular event for which it’s : an excessively shielding determine by your system to reduce something this considers …Diarrhea
January 25, 2012 at 9:18 pm | | Report comment
Obtaining diarrhea and a fever include the signs of having viral or even microbial belly virus. Looseness of along with a fever takes place when one particular can feel or get belly pain along with throws way up or even …Diarrhea
January 25, 2012 at 9:18 pm | | Report comment
wait till some wino gets roasted by one of these laser window thingys. That is going to sell so many newspapers. It will be the greatest scandal ever.
January 25, 2012 at 9:36 pm | | Report comment
Might sell a lot of windows, too.
January 25, 2012 at 11:14 pm | | Report comment
Heather Patron
January 25, 2012 at 9:50 pm | | Report comment
BA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!
January 25, 2012 at 10:18 pm | | Report comment
We could easily solve the problem by deporting all of these stupid tree huggers. I would, however, allow the tree huggers to remain until we first deported all of the illegals.
January 25, 2012 at 10:37 pm | | Report comment
Rediculous!!! Millions of cars are parked with all the windows closed creating a temperature of 160 (F) degrees inside the car with no plastic melting inside the car. You can also fry an egg on the roof, hood or trunk of a car that’s left exposed to the mid-day sun and yet, no plastic melts on the car. Who’s kidding who????
January 25, 2012 at 10:39 pm | | Report comment
Toyota Pirus body components are molded and made…you guesed it….in CHINA. There’s all you need to know ppl. Melting Toyota body parts are common in hot dry climates a encountered in nNevada and N. Mex. Because Toyota is using cheap polymers from China that can’t stand up to the heat.
January 25, 2012 at 10:44 pm | | Report comment
The car’s interior easily reaches a hundred and twenty in afternoon sun. If plastic is melting at 120, it’s the plastic that defective. But there is a sweet irony in all this. Imagine, one lib wetdream ruining another. Seems apropos, somehow.
January 25, 2012 at 11:13 pm | | Report comment
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An $8 can of Glare Buster spray should take care of that window, and the owner won’t even notice if you can do it without getting caught. Or, you might just give the can to the owner of the offending window and say “spray it or lose it.”
January 26, 2012 at 1:08 am | | Report comment
Put up some lattice on the open side of the car port and plant a rose or vineing plant there. Instant shade.
January 26, 2012 at 1:52 am | | Report comment
how about building better cars then the garbage they are building now when i was a kid things lasted more then the ten years and in some case 1 year ever buy something made in china
January 26, 2012 at 2:17 am | | Report comment
What does this have to do with climate? The headline said “climate claim.” Window reflection is not climate.
January 26, 2012 at 2:53 am | | Report comment
Hey, y’all!
This phenomena is “by design”. It is the way certain politicians “create” jobs.
Another example is how the ethanol in yer gas is eating away at vulnerable components of the fuel system in yer car. When your car finally chokes, you WILL spend big bucks having the damage repaired, or trade-in for a new one to be destroyed later.
Again… this is by design.
Tell me it isn’t so…
January 26, 2012 at 2:59 am | | Report comment
Condo: immoveable
Automobile: moveable
Solution: park somewhere else
January 26, 2012 at 3:31 am | | Report comment
This story should be entitled “When Envirowackos Colide”.
January 26, 2012 at 4:05 am | | Report comment
Get EPA out there to ban windows in homes or forbid plastic on cars. That should do the trick.
January 26, 2012 at 4:22 am | | Report comment
The solution is simple, get a large mirror and redirect the beam back to the house, use it melt anything you want on the offending neighbor’s house. Mirrors are not code violations either.
January 26, 2012 at 4:26 am | | Report comment
I think we’re missing a bigger problem…
Now that this issue is widespread, how long until people start installing windows that are intended to focus the reflected light into a specific spot?
There are lots of jerks out there… and if it isn’t illegal… they’ll do it for the laugh.
January 26, 2012 at 5:39 am | | Report comment
If every home is america has these windows.. how much heat will that add to the environment?
guaranteed the officials will tell us its not the windows though…even small numbers of these windows are going to heat up air.. which is the atmosphere.. once enough of these things get intsalled resulting in an increase in overall effect upwards on atmospheric temps,.. just like nuclear, coal, natural gas and petroluem do,..the heat is!/will rise.
as we add more and more things to the list that warm the atmosphere…we accelerate the increase in climate change
we have seen huge swings this past year or two… once the melt water pool in the artic frees and the gulf stream stops.. we are in instant winter for 10,000 years in north america
as we warm it up that meltwarer pool will free… question is .. when is that? this year? 20 years from now? 50?
January 26, 2012 at 5:46 am | | Report comment
how about never, ron. you watch too many stupid movies.
January 29, 2012 at 5:36 pm | | Report comment
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WOW, energy efficient windows are hazardous to your Prius. Now there is a label. LOL If a concentrated 120 degree beam of light melts the plastic components of an automobile then we have gotten to the point that we are putting too much plastic in cars. What if you live in SW Texas or Oklahoma I have seen 120 degrees for days on end. This is just too good.
January 26, 2012 at 5:59 am | | Report comment
which all goes to prove that anything can possibly have negative effects, even the so-called “green” things. wind turbines kill endangered birds, solar panels absorb heat instead of reflecing it back into the atmosphere (is that contributing to global warming?) use of corn for bio-fuels has drastically increased the costa of food products and may also contribute to world hunger because acreage uis being used for fuel instead of food. buying oil from dictatorships props-ups despots who use that income to fund thier weapons programs, staying away from plastics and other “chemically” produced products cause us to use more naturally occuring products like wood. all the money being spent by this president on “GREEN” while attacking other fuels is passing down a tremendous financial burden on future generations.
January 26, 2012 at 6:02 am | | Report comment
Outstanding comment lonnie, No good deed goes unpunished.
January 26, 2012 at 6:17 am | | Report comment
Easy Solution. Set up a another useless wind farm to cool off the cars.
January 26, 2012 at 6:34 am | | Report comment
Why don’t we use these windows to power turbines?
January 26, 2012 at 6:42 am | | Report comment
120 Degrees does not melt plastic. Someone needs a lesson in physics. Maybe we should call the Global Warming Scientaists.
January 26, 2012 at 6:57 am | | Report comment
I drove 550 miles going from Houston TX to Enchanted Rock State Park and only used 11 gallons of gas in my Prius. Less foreign oil you know…
January 26, 2012 at 7:00 am | | Report comment
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Too bad she already called attention to the problem. With the condo’s empty, she should have just busted out the window.
January 26, 2012 at 7:33 am | | Report comment
“The department says it’s not against the law to install a window that reflects sunlight.”
Not yet. But wait till Obama and his people hear about it.
January 26, 2012 at 7:41 am | | Report comment
“The department says it’s not against the law to install a window that reflects sunlight.”
Not yet. But wait till Obama and his people hear about it.
January 26, 2012 at 7:42 am | | Report comment
In a similar manner, I had a problem with a rental car in El Paso once. I had left a half-empty water bottle on the front seat of the car. The next day, I returned to find the leather seat was smouldering and a hole the size of a quarter had been burnt in the seat. The partially empty water bottle had acted like a magnifying glass and concentrated the rays of the sun enough to burn the hole.
January 26, 2012 at 7:43 am | | Report comment
You don’t need a code violation to sue the homeowner for damages caused by his windows. He certainly doesn’t have a right to reflect sunlight onto his neighbor’s property and cause damage.
January 26, 2012 at 7:44 am | | Report comment
Three words that answer’s the question why some Toyota car and truck body components are melting when concentrated sunlight is focused upon them: “Made in China”. I am a mechanic and I have seen this before and not just with side view mirror cowlings. It all has to do with the use of cheap plastic base material that Toyota and other car mfgr’s are starting to use to cut costs. The new stuff simply is not rated much beyond 120F at that point the parts begin to soften and colapse in on themselves much like older molded TV set cases with black plastic housings used to do if left in the sun. My adv is to park in the shade or in the garage.
January 26, 2012 at 7:47 am | | Report comment
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I owned a Dodge Daytona that reached over 165 degrees inside once. The thermometer only went to 165, and it was maxed out. Nothing melted. Well, maybe my skin did when I got in. Hot, hot, hot!
January 26, 2012 at 8:11 am | | Report comment
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global warming = “white cancerous skin” more chemtrails please.
January 26, 2012 at 9:39 am | | Report comment
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We are asuming that she is telling the truth. I think a blow-torch in the hands of a lawsuit lover could be the explanation.
January 26, 2012 at 10:52 am | | Report comment
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A melting Prius? Can’t think of a better use for it – short of driving it into a 20′ deep pit – along with it’s owner!
January 26, 2012 at 12:41 pm | | Report comment
I recall reading a news story about a year ago where these high efficiency windows were installed in homes built very close together. It included photographs showing vinyl siding melting from the sunlight reflected off of these windows.
January 26, 2012 at 12:58 pm | | Report comment
Toyota Prius averages 500 miles on one tank of gas (10 gallons)
January 26, 2012 at 1:02 pm | | Report comment
I wonder why it is that California = frivolous lawsuits??
Is it the high number of unemployed attorneys? Or is it the high number of people who believe they deserve a life unaffected by someone else’s existence? If you think you should be able to live without being affected by those around you, why would you choose a California townhome/apartment/condominium? Why not move out to the sticks?
January 26, 2012 at 1:06 pm | | Report comment
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HOW ABOUT SETTIHG UP A MIRROR TO REFLECT THE SUN BACK AT THE WINDOW..
January 26, 2012 at 6:47 pm | | Report comment
Reminds me of the “death ray” story about that Las Vegas casino’s windows that burn people.
January 27, 2012 at 7:40 am | | Report comment
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What about fire hazards in dry suburban areas? How is it not a code violation if it could be a fire hazard?
January 27, 2012 at 9:04 am | | Report comment
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Go green and make it someone else’s problem…..great country we live in..passed the buck….now where to buried the volt’s batteries when they die…
January 28, 2012 at 6:51 am | | Report comment
You could make a solar powered oven with those windows.
January 28, 2012 at 10:35 pm | | Report comment
If these are solar bronze type of window is designed to reflect infra-red waves more than visable waves. The visible light is diminished to an extent but the majority of Infra-red is reflected. Now if the glass has even the slightest warp, those IR waves will come to a skinny line at some distance from the window. All the energy reflected comes to a point all along the locus of the line. The distance is the focal length….and the more serious the warp, the closer to the window the concentration becomes. There is no doubt about a slightly curved priece of glass but a perfectly flat glass could only reflect 1 sun and no more. Therefore there could be some stresses on the window (too tight a fit in the frame for example) that cause it to act as a convex mirror.
January 29, 2012 at 12:58 am | | Report comment
I would punch that light right in the face!
January 30, 2012 at 5:43 pm | | Report comment
Window Schmidow… anyone with a pea sized brain knows the root cause of mirror melting is global warming. Look it up… first ice caps, then auto mirrors. Quit complaining about your neighbor. Blame George Bush like the Kenyan in the White House does.
January 30, 2012 at 7:33 pm | | Report comment
This very well might be the best headline ever!
February 1, 2012 at 3:22 pm | | Report comment
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Now, wait a minute here. Let’s stop blaming the windows for a moment and blame the real culprit: the Sun! The windows aren’t emitting heat or creating energy that wasn’t already there in the first place. Plus the Sun is moving and the beams reflected in a window move twice as fast, so the car cannot have been exposed for very long. If the plastic is so worthless that it melts randomly in a carpark, I’d say take the automaker to court on account of reasonable lack of due diligence (with regard to safety).
In the meantime, the easy solution would be to design a very cheap foil-coated protective cover (made from, say, styrofoam) that you slip in place when you expect high heat. No real worry of getting it stolen, as it would be cheap anyway and practically worthless to anyone else…
February 7, 2012 at 6:57 pm | | Report comment
Behatzaile bat besterik ez, orduan blogs da, baina hau benetan me egindako nahi iruzkina utzi nahi nago. Fantastic lana!
February 9, 2012 at 7:35 am | | Report comment
It is very true about the windows melting plastic. One day we had a trash bag start to melt but didn’t think much about it. It wasn’t until my ice chest was melted that we realized it was because of the windows (I still have the ice chest).
February 17, 2012 at 8:51 pm | | Report comment
The Bldg. and Code department should just modify their rules to require any window installation to be such that at no point will the reflection be in excess of 1 sun. Problem solved. Re-do the installation so there is no convex mirror or section thereof or spray some diffuser on the glass to conform to the 1 sun max.
February 18, 2012 at 2:45 am | | Report comment
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or tax money to feed fat old rush before his stroke live
January 25, 2012 at 8:17 am | | Report comment
After reading I P Sittings comment, it is apparent he has been in concentrated rays of some sort. He needs to upgrade his aluminum foil hat.
January 25, 2012 at 9:05 am | | Report comment
Or the Chevy Volt!
January 25, 2012 at 9:19 am | | Report comment
It’s all fine and low priority, until one of those windows is installed on a building next to a gas station. Imagine that potential hazard.
January 25, 2012 at 9:20 am | | Report comment
I can’t stand Obozo but he didn’t come up with this idea. I got a tax rebate on the windows I installed before the community organizer was inaugurated.
January 25, 2012 at 10:55 am | | Report comment
Neo said: “It’s all fine and low priority, until one of those windows is installed on a building next to a gas station. Imagine that potential hazard.”
The gas tanks are underground. The pumps and hoses are designed to withstand much higher temperatures. Your concern is not justified. There are plenty of gas stations in direct sun in very hot climates and they don’t explode.
January 25, 2012 at 10:57 am | | Report comment
yep some high performance windows do reflect sun light and could cause this problem, move your car dude
January 25, 2012 at 3:45 pm | | Report comment
Spanky Spankster isn’t a very good thinker.
dude you have lost all common sense just to open your mouth spew garbage like that.
Every single digit above 100deg F. the temperature is raised around or near gas fumes or pumps raises the risk of spontaneous combustion astronomically.
the risk of fueling up at a normal 105deg is pretty high already and combustion happens from just a spark from static while exiting your car from rubbing on your seat. That already happens. Just think of the 120 in just five minutes she is measuring.
January 25, 2012 at 4:03 pm | | Report comment
To Jerry:
Don’t be ridiculous. Unless it’s an incredibly arid environment, a hot day is usually coincided with a humidity level sufficient to avert electrostatic discharge (ESD). ESD is more prevalent in the winter months when humidity is exceptionally low.
Aside from this, the notion that the ambient temperature would ignite the fumes is likewise flawed. The autoignition temperature of gasoline is anywhere between 475°F to 536 °F. Considering the transiency of vehicles at gasoline pumps, and the fact that most pumping stations are covered, the likelihood of a focused beam of light from a nearby window heating any object to that temperature in the vicinity of fuel vapors is exceptionally small.
January 25, 2012 at 10:24 pm | | Report comment
This is concentrated. Enough to melt the plastic on the mirrors. How many melted mirrors have you seen lately. This would be a concern as smoking would be a concern. Focused light is more intense than direct sunlight, and that’s what they are dealing with. All I am saying is the potential hazard is there. Stranger things have happened.
January 26, 2012 at 7:33 am | | Report comment
Yes, go to the year 1957 and get a car with no plastic on it.
January 26, 2012 at 11:38 am | | Report comment
Good luck surviving in an accident with a 1957 car–oh wait you can’t
January 26, 2012 at 1:00 pm | | Report comment