Wind out sun awnings - your experience please!

Primrose

We are thinking of installing an automatic wind out sun canopy to cover our patio and would be grateful for anybody's positive or negative experiences of these on longevity, cost, and how often you have actually made use of It. Also, is there any preferable practical colour of material as regards excluding light from the room in front of which it is installed. (We have a gazebo but it is a pain to store and erect and dismantle on those rare sunny days and thought a sun awning might be a more convenient alternative.)

rustyboy21

Couple of friends have them and I don't rate them really. The height you have to put them, if you are going over things like Patio doors, mean that they do not really put the area in the shade. You would need a massive one, which extends well past the patio area, in order to block the light out.


Nice idea and look good, but I was still sitting in the sun, with it pulled out fully. Also a gust of wind made them look like they were going to take off, so strong fixings are required.

societys_child

Bought one about 8 years ago, impulse buy at local discount DIY. (Size is two and a half metres wide x 2 metres wind out)
Just last week, for the first time, I replaced the canvass (£35 for the replacement canvass and valance - took about an hour) obviously larger sizes would be more expensive to replace.

The only reason for replacing the canvass was the type of awning I have (standard) leaves about 4 inches exposed to the elements when wound in and after 8 yrs this 4" strip had faded and it was looking a bit iffy, but still usable/ no tears or rips.

There are better ones (half cassette/ full cassette/ v-line/ u-line) which fully enclose the canvass when wound-in so canvass is more protected.
Re longevity, the mechanism is still good as new and works fine. Always retract it in bad weather/ wind / rain etc.

Provides plenty of shade, and keeps the lounge much cooler.

Colour is a matter of preference, originally plain green, just replaced with dark blue.

Various type shown here
also available at other outlets

enya_3

I am just trying to get one - but living in rural Wales means it is difficult!
One piece of advice - avoid Hillary's - big in national advertising, but haven't bothered to reply to my email appointment bookings or follow-up emails (other than a computer-generated acknowledgement). If that's their customer service, I would recommend anyone else!

bouicca21

Had one at last house. Remote control is useful.

It didn't cast a huge patch of shade on the patio, enough for a couple of chairs and maybe a small table, but was really useful for shading the room itself.

I suspect a lot depends on the orientation of your house. We had sun beating down on the back garden and no other shade, for most of the day and for us it wasn't just about the garden but about making the sitting room more comfortable.

BabyBoots

I had one in a previous house for the south facing rooms - one manually operated with a pole (lounge) and one automatic (kitchen). The automatic one was obviously easier to use, but I had to open the lounge patio doors every day when I got in, to let the heat out in hot weather anyway, so not too much bother to manually roll the awning out too.

I used them more for keeping the rooms cool, and the sun out of my eyes in those rooms than to shade the patio. It was a green and yellow stripe, which worked fine and didn't fade.

Yorkie1

bouicca21 wrote: »

Had one at last house. Remote control is useful.

It didn't cast a huge patch of shade on the patio, enough for a couple of chairs and maybe a small table, but was really useful for shading the room itself.

I suspect a lot depends on the orientation of your house. We had sun beating down on the back garden and no other shade, for most of the day and for us it wasn't just about the garden but about making the sitting room more comfortable.

BabyBoots wrote: »

I had one in a previous house for the south facing rooms - one manually operated with a pole (lounge) and one automatic (kitchen). The automatic one was obviously easier to use, but I had to open the lounge patio doors every day when I got in, to let the heat out in hot weather anyway, so not too much bother to manually roll the awning out too.

I used them more for keeping the rooms cool, and the sun out of my eyes in those rooms than to shade the patio. It was a green and yellow stripe, which worked fine and didn't fade.

My parents have had the automatic ones for c.15 years, I think, and they're still going strong.

I agree with the others that their main benefit is in protecting the curtains, carpet and soft furnishings / furniture from strong summer sun for mainly-south facing rooms, and for keeping the temperature down in those rooms.

A side benefit is that they create some shade on the patio too.

nobulljusttruth

Auto (electric)with, wind and rain detector will retract it if wind (which is the big wrecker), gets too strong. I use ours when it rains to be able to sit out when its warm,

hillarys Blinds is a small agency franchise, expensive and the agenst are not always capable of fitting. Rural areas will be an issue and cost high.

avoid Thomas Sandersons too, remortgage required.


Robertshaws in Farnworth Bolton, manufacture and fit

The reach (ie the amount it sticks out) is paramount. width is of course subject to the space you want to cover.

Most fabrics have a 10+ year lifespan, avoid stripes.... fashions come an go, though stripes do hide any dirt or dust.

As mentioned cassette styles are neater and more expensive.

Any problems getting sorted let me know, I still have a file full of contacts,

ps electrics have to be wired in by a qualified electrcian and certified.

peachyprice

We have a plain green 3m wide manual one, in fact we've just fitted out second one, the first one got wrecked when it got left out on a windy day and one of the arms bent

Our garden is west facing and the awning is great for keeping the sitting room in the shade in the afternoon. I really makes a huge difference to the temperature, we wouldn't be without ours now (and we are far more careful not to use it on a windy day and always to wind it in if we go out). You can change the rake so that you get shade where you need it, as ours is used to shade the room we have it quite angled.