That’s interesting—didn’t realize different brands could look that different. I’ve only seen the greenish tint after my install, and it’s most obvious late afternoon.
Wish I’d thought of that. Does anyone know if the coatings affect the way LED lights look inside too?“definitely worth checking out samples in your actual space before committing”
Yeah, I’ve noticed the tint gets weirder depending on the time of day too. Mine’s more like a blue-green, but only really obvious when the sun’s low. I didn’t even think about how the coatings might mess with indoor lighting though. Now that you mention it, my kitchen LEDs look kinda harsh at night, almost like there’s a weird filter over everything? Not sure if that’s just in my head or what.
I wish I’d checked samples in my space too—felt kinda rushed by the installer. The thing is, I read somewhere that the Low-E coatings can reflect certain wavelengths of light, so maybe it does tweak how LEDs look inside? Anyone ever notice if it changes with warm vs cool bulbs? Mine are all “daylight” style and they look a little off since the new windows went in. Makes me wonder if swapping to warmer bulbs would help or just make it worse.
Also curious if anyone’s had luck getting used to the tint after a while. It still bugs me after a few months... but maybe I’m just being picky.
That’s interesting—my experience has been pretty similar since I got the new windows. The tint is definitely more noticeable at certain times, especially when the sun’s at an angle. I did a bit of reading before we installed ours, and apparently most Low-E coatings are designed to reflect infrared and some UV, but they can also reflect parts of the visible spectrum depending on the manufacturer. That’s probably where that blue-green cast comes from.
About the LEDs, I’ve actually experimented a bit. My kitchen had 5000K “daylight” bulbs, and after the windows went in, everything looked kind of stark and almost clinical at night. I swapped a few out for 2700K warm whites just to see if it helped, and honestly, it did soften things up a little, but the greenish tint didn’t totally disappear. It just sort of mixed with the warmer light, so now it’s more of a yellow-green? Not exactly what I was hoping for, but it’s less harsh on the eyes.
I think part of it is just that our brains notice any change in lighting really quickly—especially in spaces we use all the time. After about six months, I stopped noticing it as much unless I’m actively thinking about it or comparing photos from before and after. Still, if you do a lot of color-sensitive stuff (like cooking or painting), it might always feel a bit off.
Kind of wish installers would bring coated glass samples into the actual rooms before you make the final call. Would’ve saved me some second-guessing. But yeah, switching bulb color temperature helps a bit, though it won’t eliminate the tint completely if that coating is strong. If it really bugs you, some people have had luck with higher CRI bulbs—they render colors more accurately and seem to cut down on that weird filter effect indoors.
Not sure if any of this helps, but you’re definitely not imagining it.
Kind of wish installers would bring coated glass samples into the actual rooms before you make the final call. Would’ve saved me some second-guessing.
Totally agree—would’ve saved a lot of “wait, is my living room green now?” moments. I swapped out a bunch of bulbs too, and while it helped a bit, there’s still that weird tint when sunlight hits just right. Honestly, after a year, I mostly forget about it unless I’m showing someone paint colors. My wife jokes we live in a giant fish tank some afternoons. At least the energy bill dropped... small wins, I guess.
- Yeah, that greenish tint is real.
- Thought I could ignore it, but certain afternoons it’s like everything’s underwater.
- Not a dealbreaker, but picking wall colors got trickier.
- On the bright side, my AC runs way less now. Small trade-off, I guess.