Making a Match With Your Ideal Retractable Awning

Retractable awnings are a powerful way to individualize a space. Retractable awnings exhibit overt style and elegance that simultaneously harmonize with the existing appearance of a home or office. Retractable awnings also bring functional benefits like extending living spaces and even saving money on energy bills. To maximize these benefits takes planning.

Function before Form

Style is intrinsically related to function. The first step, then, is to identify the installation location:

·        What does the awning need to do in this space? An awning can provide shade either by blocking sunlight from a room or by shading a space outdoors. Shading a room may require only a small dome retractable awning over a window, while creating a new outdoor sitting area may require a very large lateral arm awning.

·        How big a shade area do I need? How big can the awning be? Retractable awnings are installed to slope (pitch) at a slight angle, dropping about 3 inches for every foot it goes out. The largest lateral arm awning is 40' wide with a 17' projection; the smallest is about 5'6" wide with a 7' projection. Knowing the square footage to be shaded dictates how big the awning should be.

·        Where is the awning being mounted? There are several places where the mounting brackets can be located: on the roof, wall, ceiling, soffit, or eave. The major factor is clearance, making sure that obstructions like doors, gutters, and shutters are away from the awning itself.

·        What features will be shaded? Awnings have a different affect whether they’re installed over windows, doors, patios, hot tubs, break areas, or parking or sidewalk areas, and each space leans toward a different style of awning. Additionally, landscaping is affected by shade, including any grass areas, gardens, and trees. Plan the shade and awning size and style around the natural feature of the space.

·        What direction does the home or office face? Properties which receive most of their light from the south or west also receive a huge amount of heat, driving up air conditioning costs. Identifying the hottest areas is a good place to begin installing awnings, since this can lower air conditioning use 25% or more.

History and Style

Defining the function of the awning naturally flows into recognizing the perfect style. There are three major categories of retractable awnings:

·        Lateral arm, the traditional, flat stretch of fabric across two or more folding arms

·        Dome, rounded, relatively short awnings which have a high arch stretch over several ribs for shape; extra-long versions are called elongated domes

·        Drop arm/Side arm, with a single arm on both sides of the awning which can extend horizontally (side-arm) or straight down (drop-arm) for optimum coverage and allows the awning to retract fully.

For many building styles, retractable awnings are a natural feature. Lateral arm awnings are commonly used over patios, while dome retractable awnings and drop/side arm awnings are common over windows and doors. Lateral arm awnings, however, were very popular for both Spanish and art deco influenced architecture, even over windows.

Even the color can be influenced by architecture. For example, Victorians used the effect of sunlight through awnings to create diffuse colors in rooms. In the US, many residential awnings are stripes in sedate forest green and beige, but Spanish architecture lends itself to vibrant reds and yellows, while deco tends to black and white and Victorian to pastel.

An Eye to Climate

Climate has a huge impact on how a retractable awning is used. Retractable awnings can be motorized, and this allows sensors to be attached to the awning which can extend and retract the awning at predetermined climate conditions:

·        What kind of weather do you have? Retractable awnings are primarily for sun protection; the weight from heavy rain or snow can damage them. Specific sensors can detect rain and retract the awning. Likewise, light sensors automatically extend the awning at a certain brightness and close it at dusk.

·        Is it windy? Retractable awnings can handle sustained winds of approximately 35mph. Wind sensors detect wind speeds and retract the awning at a preset speed; some automatically recheck every few minutes to re-extend the awning when the speeds drop. Motion sensors detect sharp, sudden movement and retract the awning; this is ideal for climates subject to wind gusts.

Retractable awnings are a great fit for almost any space, but it’s important to find the right awning for the right space. By looking at retractable awnings as part of a whole solution, you can tie the threads of function and style together so a retractable awning is organically part of your home or office. Asking questions about your space will point you in the right direction.