Film doesn't need to stick directly to the glass. It is filtering the UVA/UVB rays installed as is. Depends on the film as to how long it will last.

i've become a bit of a home expert in windows as of late since we are replacing old windows in our home, ourselves. if your windows are double or triple pane and you have argon gas between, you can not use the window film. our old windows & sliding doors have/had this mirror reflective film we put on (we're in orlando BTW). the mirror reflective film builds up heat between the panes and will cause them to either crack or cause a release of the argon gas by loosening seals from the high interior heat. my biggest window problem was the east side, masters bedroom, that as no tree cover and is in blazing central FL sun sun-up to sun-down. we just replaced those windows a few weekends ago and we installed pella vinyl, double paned, argon gas, tempered glass (less than 18" off floor) w/ a special sun glass for south facing windows (FL standard). their UV rating is 98%. those windows are cool to the touch :-0 but compared to the extreme darkening film, very very bright lol. i can't tell you how many times i reach for the light switch to turn off a light that is not on, it's just soooo much brighter :-) my problem w/ them is there is no longer privacy film that we have lived w/ for 10 yrs LOL ;-) DH just installed 1 cellular top down-bottom shade i picked up at bed, bath & beyond so that we can get light thru the top still but walk around in the a.m. brushing teeth in our underwear LOL. you might think about cellular shades, i couldn't find cheaper top-down/bottom-up room darkening shades but just single cell do a very nice job of filtering sun. ~ liz

Ok, I'll nix the fabric panel options. Leaning toward new lined woven romans. Tibb & Bpahome - I'll read up on the window films but I think it would be very hard to get right on a large space. Bumps or creases would really bother me. Rose - Well you're hip and my grammy wouldn't use those either. :) I can come up with some doozies when tired. I find my eye goes often to the wide span of white 2" blinds in my LR and I don't care for it, but that ended up being the best/most practical option for us in their. White woven - hmm.. you mean like bleached? I didn't realize they made shutters for patio doors until I was searching window treatments. I even found some magnetic blind options I didn't know they made. I was thinking our basement door, but the reviews were saying the magnet wasn't strong enough to raise and lower without pulling down. Nice idea though. Tina - The blinds are from Home Depot, but I know they made separate liners (saw at Lowes) you can attach to existing shades. I never got around to buying them before because I wanted the light not realizing my stuff is fading. All our windows are actually low-e. They're Anderson and whatever ones they are do nothing for sun protections. :( If we ever replace (I'm hoping move) I'll be researching the heck out of windows.

@rockbird - Whatever you choose, get a few bids as I found significant price variation with different installers. The first 3M installer quoted me $3500 for film that was functionally equivalent to Avery Dennison which quoted me $1800. There was a climate control 3M that was $5400 from the first 3M installer. I had my designer get a quote from another 3M installer and the apples to apples bid from the second 3M installed was $2400 versus $1800 for Avery for what appeared to be the same technology. Both brands had various options available but I wanted something relatively simple - I wanted to block the destructive UV rays without having to have shades drawn constantly since I have a bank of windows with a view so there is always light but since it's an Eastern exposure, I don't have the relentless sun of a Western exposure. I didn't want something extremely dark nor did I want anything with a mirror finish on the exterior since I wasn't using these for privacy or really for climate control. The Avery Dennison installer said that the film I chose would have a slight impact on climate control but the main benefit is UV protection for furniture and floors. When they come out, they have cards with the film and you hold it up to the window to get a sense of how dark the windows will appear with each possibility.