I'm wondering how safe the lights are from paint fading. I have all my pieces in a glass display cabinet that I seldom light up. The cases are on the north side of my living room with windows on the south side facing the sun. Direct sun doesn't reach them.

You are probably okay. Mine have been displayed in a curio cabinet for nine years now.
They have had no direct sun. The ones around the later part of 95 and up have a better paint than the early ones. All of mine that are displayed are from 91 to 97 and they are all still in great shape. I have no direct sunlight that enters the room. Two foot eves keep the sunlight from coming in from the south. At least that works here in Florida.
I personaly would get window blinds so that no direct sun light enters the room. Less light the better.

It's interesting how the sunshine manages to sneak it's way into my curio cabinets at different times of the day, and different times of the year. Even though this happens, I've never noticed any obvious fading of any of my HL's.

Part of it could be my rotating of my displays, and the fact that the newer pieces seem to have a better paint job. I do have a few pieces with paint flaking from the old days, but I don't believe that was caused by the sun.

I do remember going to several dealers hunting down HL's, back in the 90's. Some dealers had HL's displayed in their windows and after an extended period of time, the fading was obvious. Especially, if they left the display facing in one direction for most of the year.

I do have halogen lights in my curios but never saw any fading caused by them, keeping in mind I do rotate my displays.

:rolleyes: Bob :rolleyes:

There was a posting on this forum I believe around 1998 about a Currituck that a collector bought from a dealer. When he bought it, it wasn’t displayed at the outside window but looking at it, it was obvious that the paint was sun faded and that it was in direct Sunlight at some point. I have seen some HL in dealer windows and if they are in the direct sunlight overtime you can tell.

Your right, Dan. The ones I've seen that sat in a dealer window without being moved for extended periods of time were noticeably lighter on the "sun-side" than they were on the side protected from the sun's rays. Somehow I doubt this would occur in a person's glass curio inside a home with indirect sunlight. Has anyone had a paint fading experience over time in their curio?

Bob

I have some of my HL's in a curio on the east wall of my living room. They are ok in the summer. Later in the year when the sun is lower in the southern sky where I have windows the sun hits this curio. Currently about 1:30pm. I hate to shut the blinds as this is my solar heat. When the sun's out my furnace doesn't run all day. I have a dark colored fitted sheet that I cover the face of the curio with. Not pretty but it works. If I know I won't be home at the bewitching hour I cover in advance.

We had a sliding glass door in the house we lived in prior to moving to Kent in 2005. The heat coming in that "window" from the afternoon sun was horrendous, but I didn't like closing the vertical blind as it was the only "light" in the room. I purchased a roll of window tint and put it on the door. I was amazed at how well it worked. You could see through the door, as well as clean it with Windex, but it blocked the glare and heat of the sun. I don't recall where I purchased the roll, but I have seen it advertised for sale in various mail order catalogues. Auto supply stores would probably carry it.

Sandy

P.S. We were in Las Vegas a few years ago and saw someone putting that same kind of tint material on the entry doors of one of the casinos.

When I put an addition on my home in 1999, I used Harvey Windows which allegedly were all "E-glass". I had some rather expensive pleated shades put on all the windows with the exception of an eliptical window that was directly above a triple mullion window I had in the front of the addition. Needless to say, this window faced the west and the summer sun would stream inside with great strength. It only took about a year before one of my pieces of furniture started to be effected by obvious fading. The victim was an expensive chair.

At that time I decided to have the window tinted to prevent further sun damage. I contracted a tinting firm who came out, washed the inside window three times to make sure there was no streaks or foreign matter on the surface of the glass, and then applied a tinted film over the inside surface of the glass. The end result was wonderful! From the exterior of my home, the eliptical window had a mirror-like reflection, while from inside you could see out to the sky and the neighboring trees.

All was well until the window developed a long crack about six months later. The window company agreed to warranty the window and replace if for free. I asked them if they sold a tinted version of this window. They did and it cost me about $200 extra to have a tinted window put in. It was a good investment because tint films applied over the interior surface of the glass only last so long. My new window had the tint applied inside the glass. That will last forever.

Many people have their car windows tinted beyond what the manufacturers do when the car is built. In some states this is illegal once the tint gets to be too dark. It is not that expensive to have your windows tinted. You can usually tell who spent the money for the good stuff as compared to cheap jobs. If you see bubbling, wrinkles, scratches, or open seams, you can be sure it was a cheap job. For the greatest satisfaction, leave it to the professional tint people.

Bob