CBS news LA has an interesting story today that involves a Toyota Prius, energy efficient windows and some melting exterior bits. Follow the jump for more...
Heather Patron of Studio City noticed something odd on her brand new Prius recently; the side-view mirror, along with other exterior plastics was melting. She took the car to the dealer where the car was cleared of any defects and had the mirrors replaced.
She then noticed that the mirrors on the car parked next to her at home were also melted. It was then she noticed that a neighboring condo's high efficiency windows were reflecting an intense amount of light and heat directly into her carport.
Patron is not the only one, the National Association of Home Builders is investing the matter after numerous reports from across the country say that the windows concentrated sunlight can cause serious damage.
As for the condo doing the damage? It's not a code violation, it's not a crime. Patron is lucky in that this spot is not the only one she has, but what if it were? What would you do?
Check the video at CBS LA.
agnh says:
02:57 PM, 01/25/12
What happens now that the dealer is aware that the problem isn't a defect in the parts and is no longer willing to replace them under warranty? What happens when she goes to trade the car in and it is worth less than it should be because the paint is prematurely faded?
She as well as her neighbors are going to suffer financially due to the condo complexes windows.
zimtheinvader says:
03:07 PM, 01/25/12
Time for a reflective car cover :)
jmk261 says:
03:27 PM, 01/25/12
I remember taking a magnifying glass outside as a kid and burning a hole into a tree leaf; that is what this reminds me of.
heartlessbstrd says:
03:30 PM, 01/25/12
Since the most energy that these windows can reflect is 100%, are we to understand that they're focusing light like a parabolic mirror?
rustyshacklfrd says:
04:22 PM, 01/25/12
Time to put up some sort of wall/barrier/planting or something on that side of the carport.
stovt001 says:
04:45 PM, 01/25/12
Ah, when green meets green. Not pretty.
jackson611 says:
05:46 PM, 01/25/12
@ agnh:
The Coase theorem applies here.
In short, the condo development has the property rights and is able to legally install energy efficient windows. The melting creates what is called a negative externality. The LA community, or some zoning board, has decided that society is benefited more by a condo full of energy efficient windows than by the non-melting and non-peeling of paint of a persons car.
explorerx4 says:
05:52 PM, 01/25/12
I don't believe that story. The news crew only measured the temp @120 degrees.
explorerx4 says:
05:53 PM, 01/25/12
I meant write 'the news crew measured the temp at only 120 degrees'.
roadburner says:
07:50 PM, 01/25/12
"Ah, when green meets green. Not pretty."
An eco-weenie smackdown!
Bring it on!!!
scottyscooter says:
05:10 AM, 01/26/12
"heartlessbstrd says:
Since the most energy that these windows can reflect is 100%, are we to understand that they're focusing light like a parabolic mirror?"
I was thinking the same thing. Anyone who has played with a magnifying glass can tell you that the energy of the sun has the capability to burn and melt stuff, however, energy efficient windows just reflect the sunlight away. The suns energy isn’t going to get the same effect of being focused through a lens.
If the windows did have that capability, we wouldn’t be reading a news story about a melted mirror on a Prius because there would be plenty of headlines about people getting serious burns from standing in front of energy efficient windows and houses being set ablaze from them!
I think that the plastic is melting from something else. It’s probably vandalism...
tomslick2 says:
05:48 AM, 01/26/12
If it was getting direct sunlight AND the reflected sunlight, that would be up to 200%. If there happened to be more than one window reflecting light onto it the percent would go up higher.
greenpony says:
07:17 AM, 01/26/12
tomslick2 says: "If it was getting direct sunlight AND the reflected sunlight, that would be up to 200%. If there happened to be more than one window reflecting light onto it the percent would go up higher."
I wonder how probable it is that the condo has windows arranged perfectly to ensure that the mirrors of this Prius and the car next to it receive enough energy throughout the day to melt the mirror housings. That would require some sort of active management of window angle.
No, I'm in agreement with scottyscooter. "It’s probably vandalism..."
richcory says:
08:17 AM, 01/26/12
This is funny
church123 says:
08:56 AM, 01/26/12
Scientifically, I have no issues believing this is _possible_. I believe one of the new resorts in Vegas had a hot spot near its pool where reflected light was actually burning some guests (some guy's hair even smoldered IIRC). Concentrating the sun's energy by a factor of 3x-4x (if the window was parabolic, or multiple windows converged in the same area) would be plenty to melt low grade plastic in this manner - and it isn't even summer time yet (although the area of heating may move with the seasons).
In terms of rights, I'm a big fan of personal property rights and keeping govt as far away from telling me what I can do with my stuff/home/etc. But.....in this case, if someone's property is affecting someone else's property/well being, then something needs to be done. It's not really any different than a neighbor with a really loud stereo disturbing the peace, or in this case, shaking the picture frames off your wall with bass. The issue for the Prius lady is that in the case of noise, there are clear nuisance laws and even allowable noise levels that can be measured, so its _relatively_ simple to address. In the case of reflected light, I'm not sure what course you could take.
transpower says:
08:59 AM, 01/26/12
Get the Prius solar energy roof. Focus the reflected light on the roof.
carlisimo says:
10:43 AM, 01/26/12
That building in Las Vegas was curved, so people under its concave area were getting cooked. I expect this condo is curved or at least multifaceted, otherwise the story seems unlikely.
explorerx4 says:
04:55 PM, 01/26/12
How about this? It's a heated mirror and is not turning off.
xorbe says:
07:51 PM, 01/26/12
Same thing happened with a fancy new Disney World building, and a condo complex, except it was Disney heating up the condos to unsafe temps. They had to redo the surface of the curvy Disney building.
The focused condo windows will need to be addressed. If it's melting cars, clearly it's a fire hazard.