If you’re finding that money is tight at the moment you can find a number of ‘How to Build an Awning’ articles on the internet and I’ve looked at them and can tell you that you can build your own canvas awning quite easily in just a couple of hours. If, however, you have decided to buy a protective canopy, there are a number of basic choices you need to make before you can judge which model is best for your requirements.
First of all you have a choice of retractable, fixed or portable canopies. A portable canopy is fine if you have a lawn or large open patio and you like to sit in different parts of the garden. Fixed canvas awnings have a lot of disadvantages and generally need to be replaced every five years or so. On the other hand a retractable awning with woven acrylic fabric will last up to twenty five years and is a good investment for a number of reasons. One important reason is that the awning will stop the sunlight from shining into your house and raising the temperature and this can save you as much as 25% on your air-conditioning electricity bills!
Retractables are available in manual or automatic operating systems; the manual has to be hand cranked open or closed whereas the automatic uses a motor to move the awning. As you would imagine, the automatic models are considerably more expensive than the manuals. An automatic patio canopy also has some quite sophisticated options such as a sensor to indicate high winds or heavy rain, so that the awning is able to close itself and stay protected from weather damage.
Retractable awnings are fairly easy to install yourself and the job can be done in a couple of hours with just a few simple tools and a bit of effort. This saves you having to pay expensive installation costs. To give you some idea of price, a basic SunSetter manually operated awning measuring 16 ft x 10 ft costs about 1,500 dollars and a motorized version would cost about 1,850 dollars.
Retractable awnings can be mounted on the house wall, on the overhang under the soffit, or even on the roof. At least 6 inches of unobstructed space is required to mount an awning and the height should be at least 7-1/2 ft to allow for the downward pitch of awnings. If you find that you have something in the way like a light fixture or if there isn’t enough height available, you can get special brackets which will allow you to mount the awning on the roof. The maximum projection of deck awnings is between 10 ft – 14 ft.
For the fabric of the patio canopy you have a choice between vinyl, canvas and other water-resistant materials. Waterproof vinyl provides about 99% UV protection, but as air cannot pass through vinyl these types of canopy tend to trap heat beneath them. On the other hand, woven acrylic and laminated acrylic fabric also provide very high UV protection and in addition they are ‘breathable’ and do not trap heat under the canopy, so they provide a cooler environment and a lower temperature inside your home as well.
That’s a quick run through your options which should help you narrow down the field a bit before your start window shopping online. Whichever model you end up with I’m sure you’ll think it’s been a worthwhile investment installing a patio awning and gaining a cool, outdoor space where you can enjoy the warm summer days.