Stylish awnings to help cool your home in summer

Stylish awnings to help cool your home in summer

You could be mistaken for thinking that our electricity bills in the United Kingdom would drop drastically during the summer, after all, our heating is off by then. However, we seem to be experiencing hotter and drier summers these days, so many are choosing to have air conditioning units fitted into their homes and these are obviously powered by electricity. So, should you be hit with an eye watering electricity bill during the warmer months, they can be reduced by installing an awning. Not only do they look great and give you a shaded area to enjoy the great outdoors, but they can also really help to keep your property cooler too.

An awning can help to regulate the amount of heat that reaches the outside walls of your house, particularly the parts that have large windows, such as patio doors. The external shade from an awning can block up to eighty percent of the direct heat that hits the windows, giving you an immediate reduction of heat transfer.

Things are getting hotter, so get an awning

Research has shown that awnings can lower heat gain in properties by as much as sixty five percent on windows with a southern exposure and up to seventy seven percent on windows with a western exposure. In real terms, this means that awnings can help up to reduce your energy bill during the hot weather by as much as twenty six percent. Although a quality air conditioning system is a nice thing to have, they are not cheap to buy, install or run.

A few years ago, we wouldn’t have given the time of day to air conditioning in our homes in the United Kingdom. Any hot or sticky days and nights could be helped with fans, and we consoled ourselves that they wouldn’t last for long anyway. We were more likely to insist on air conditioning in our cars than in our homes. We now seem to be coming around to the idea, as our seasonal temperatures are getting warmer, drier and for longer, a trend that is likely to continue into the foreseeable future.

Get a great look, keep cool and save money with an awning

Awnings don’t just give you a stylish looking addition to your patio or decked area, they also help to keep your house cool without the added expense of an air conditioning unit. They will lower your electricity bills by decreasing the amount of heat that enters and builds up inside your home by up to seventy seven percent. So, while you enjoy your down time, sipping your favourite cool drink, enjoy an al fresco meal or just chill with family and friends in the shade of your awning, you will be saving money and the environment too.

Awnings protect your homes interior

Aside from keeping you shaded and cool whilst in the garden and helping to keep your property cooler, an awning can save your interior fixtures and fitting too. This may sound like an outlandish claim, but when you consider the power of direct sunlight, it becomes more of a feasible claim.

If you’ve ever had a photograph in a conservatory that fades to nothing, you will appreciate just how damaging the sun can be. The sun literally bleaches whatever its rays touch. Fabrics will fade, carpets will be bleached, pictures too and leather furniture will become dry and begin to crack. All in all, the damage caused by direct light from the sun can prove to be incredibly costly. The addition of an awning can save your prized paintings, photographs, carpets and soft furnishings.

When one weighs up the cost of an awning, compared to the cost of replacing or losing sun damaged possessions, it really does become a very easy choice to make.

Apart from the potential to save your furnishings, there are the practicalities to consider when choosing a quality awning. You will have a lovely place to relax in the shade. You will not have to plaster yourself in factor fifty sunscreen to enjoy sitting out in even the hottest weather, saving your garden furniture from becoming stained from the lotion.

Awnings for entertaining

Now you have your new awning over your patio seating area, you also want to maximise your entertainment whilst relaxing there. The days of bringing the music system and speakers outside are over with a lot of modern awnings.

With Bluetooth connectivity, LED lighting for the perfect mood enhancing relaxation and in-built music, our awnings can really become the must have addition to your property this summer. The sun-resistant and rainproof fabric provides a wonderful cooling shade. Some of our awnings also include a discretely built-in Bluetooth speaker system that you can operate with your smartphone or tablet, how’s that for smart?

You can even choose from a range of LED lighting options too. Coloured LED lighting that is easy to adjust from the smartphone or tablet. What a great way to enjoy your new awning and extra time spent in the garden

Your family pet benefits from an awning

Even the family pet will thank you for having an awning installed too. Dogs and cats love being outside, particularly when the weather is good, but dogs in particular love being with their owner, after all, we are the leader of their pack and it’s natural for them to want to remain by our sides. When the weather is just too hot, they will instinctively seek out the shade of a table, chair or bush in the garden, but now you have an awning, your four-legged friend will be able to find that shelter right by your side.

In summary, an awning looks fantastic and really enhance your property. Awnings give you, your family and friends a comfortable and safe space to sit out and enjoy the fresh air. Awnings save you money by reducing or even eliminating the need to run expensive air conditioning units when the mercury rises. Awnings save our soft furnishings and prized paintings and photographs. Awnings enable your pets to sit out with you without overheating. So, in short, having a quality awning fitted to your property is a great idea, so enjoy the warmer weather in the cooler shade of an awning.