How to Choose Retractable Awnings
If you’re reading this article, you’re likely aware of the advantages that retractable awnings provide to home and business owners. Easy to install and use, they’re a cost-effective way to control sunlight and heat, extend living space, lower utility bills, and add color and style to a house or commercial building. So you’ve educated yourself on the benefits of awnings, and now you’re ready to choose a model that’s a good match for your location. Here are the 4 major questions that should guide your purchase.
1. How will you use your retractable awnings?
There are different types available, such as dome style (often seen over windows and doorways) and lateral style (good for decks and patios). Be sure to select an awning that is well suited to your install area. If you plan ahead, you can even use more than one model, coordinating colors and styles to add harmony.
2. What atmosphere are you aiming for?
This pertains mostly to the fabric color of your awnings. Solution-dyed acrylic fabric, which is the best type available, comes in over 500 styles. You’ll find numerous solid colors, as well as stripes and floral patterns. If you want to create a party atmosphere for entertaining, you might opt for a clear, bright color, such as a tropical blue or green. If you want something more relaxing and intimate, you can look for a warm yellow, orange, or red, which create an effect of light. Or if you have contemporary sensibilities, you could choose a combination of neutrals (black and white, for example) which come across as clean and stylish.
3. How important is hands-free operation?
Retractable awnings come with motors, sensors, and remote controls can be added to the package for greater ease of use. Whether you’re pushing a button or using a crank, lowering and retracting the awning will take less than a minute. The motorized add-ons can reduce wear and tear, however, extending the life of the awnings. If you are truly a hands-off type, you can look at models that come with weather sensors that unfurl the awnings on bright days and retract them in dangerous or overcast weather.
4. Can you recognize quality?
There are plenty of reputable awning manufacturers, but there are some shady outfits as well. That makes it important to know what makes for a durable awning. I already mentioned that acrylic fabric is the best option. Here’s what else to look for: Aluminum frames are the most durable, as well as being lightweight for easy use. Electrostatic powder-coating on the metal gives an added degree of protection. Look for Teflon-coated straps in the arms, which, unlike steel cables, cannot rust. The thread used to sew the fabric should be weather proof just like the fabric itself. Gore-Tex is an ideal material. A general rule of thumb is to avoid bulk suppliers like Sam’s Club or CostCo and buy retractable awnings from a company that specializes in making them.
Follow these guidelines, and you should get decades of maintenance-free use out of your awnings. Of course, you can flick them with a feather duster every couple years if the mood strikes you. If you want more background before you make a purchase, here’s more info on home and commercial uses for awnings.
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How to Create Landscapes with Retractable Awnings
American home owners are showing a growing impulse to move outside, treating their back yard landscapes as more than a place to store the grill. If you feel the allure of this back-to-the-yard movement, then you’ll be interested in ways to make your outdoor environment as welcoming and festive as possibly, creating a relaxed living area that’s friendly to plants, animals, and people alike. Retractable awnings can help you create the soothing blend of sun and shade, energy and calm, that you want to experience. Here are 3 steps to help you combine functionality and style to design a personalized outdoor living space.
1. Map your existing outside space. Where are your high-use areas? Where are decorative plants and rock walls located? If the contours of your yard are not very defined, you might consider hiring a gardener or landscaper to assist you in creating a “blueprint” for the space. By identifying what you want to happen where (grill location, seating, flower beds) you’ll be able to identify the ideal areas for sunlight and shade.
2. Visualize the future landscape. What elements do you want to add that don’t currently exist? Will you entertain large groups on your deck or patio? Serve drinks at the poolside? Build a play area for the kids? Create a small, romantic setting for personal use? When you have a picture of where the space is headed, you will be able to identify the architectural elements necessary to make that happen. These might include a pond, organic garden, lighting, flower bed, privacy fence, deck, trees, or awnings.
3. Decide how much time (and money) you want to invest. Some landscape elements, like gardens, grass, and water features, are maintenance-intensive and expensive to keep up. Others, like hardy trees, decks, and patios, are much easier to maintain. On the extreme end of the efficiency spectrum are awnings, which are maintenance-free-and target a central need in landscape planning: controlling sunlight to cut UV rays and heat. Like lawns, humans are susceptible to the exhaustion caused by too much heat and dryness, so a well-designed outdoor space will blend sun and shade for seamless recreation and relaxation. Awnings allow you to clearly define areas and provide instant shade for people and plants.
In the outdoor setting, the genius of retractable awnings resides in the efficiency, flexibility, and variety they lend to your landscapes. Easy to install, they can be lowered or retracted in under a minute, either manually or at the push of a remote control button. This means you can sip drinks in the shade or stargaze using the same area. And today awnings are produced in a wide spectrum of colors—bright, soothing, solid, striped—to help you extend your living space out of doors. Want to explore further? If you understand the basics of home awnings, take a look at How to Add Value to Your Home with Retractable Awnings. And before you jump into the purchase process, be sure to read How to Choose Awnings.
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How Retractable Awnings Can Add Value to Your Home
Are you one of those “Do It Yourself” enthusiasts? Does the thought of expanding your home’s visual appeal and capacity for hospitality get your creative juices flowing? Do you always have an eye open for smart ways to add to your house’s value in the competitive market? If you’ve heard about retractable awnings at all, you probably see them primarily as efficient tools for creating shade and getting the most use out of your outdoor areas. You could consider those the basic applications of residential awnings. However, they have strategic value as home improvement assets as well. Here’s a rundown on 3 big ways that they can add value to your home.
Retractable awnings make your home’s interior cooler, more open and spacious. Are there rooms in your house that get overheated by direct sunlight, places you avoid at certain times of the day? Do you frequently pull blinds to keep the temperatures down and prevent your furniture and wall paint from getting bleached out? If so, installing awnings over your windows will cut the heat gain by over 70 percent and glare by over 90 percent (study by American Society of Heating and Air Conditioning Engineers), creating an atmosphere of filtered sunlight that keeps your home inviting and comfortable at the same time.
Retractable awnings add curb appeal to your residence. This is especially true in neighborhoods where the houses are similar. As you’re probably aware, outside appearance is one of the biggest factors that influence prospective home buyers. By adding awnings to your deck, patio, doors, or garden areas, you’ll introduce a creative aesthetic that enhances your home’s existing colors and architecture.
Awnings increase energy efficiency. Aside from saving you cash on utility bills, research by the EPA show that energy efficiency also increases a house’s resale value, roughly $10-25 for every $1 saved on utilities. This is good news, since energy conservation is increasingly an issue for home owners, no matter where they live. Let’s break this down. Studies by the Professional Awning Manufacturers Association reveals that awnings can reduce inside temperatures by up to 15 degrees. This, in turn, cuts air conditioning use by 25 percent, and results in energy savings anywhere from 25 to 34 percent, depending on climate. What does this mean?
Let’s assume you spend $80 on your power bill. In this case, well-situated awnings would save you at minimum $25 a month, and $300 a year. Let’s multiply that by the low figure ($10 resale value for every $1 saved), and that’s a $3000 increase in the value of your house. You would realize these savings by installing awnings over the sun-baked windows of your house (usually east, west, and south sides), and retracting them on cold or overcast days to capitalize on natural heating.
If you’re looking for a cost-effective way to enhance your home’s usability and add value, you may want to explore retractable awnings further. Few DIY projects can match their stylish bang for the buck. But before you put any money down, be sure to read How to Choose Awnings.
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