Huge Retractable Awnings

Total Eclipse Giant Retractable Awning

The most common size for retractable awnings is twenty feet wide with a ten foot projection. This size is sufficient for most decks, and doesn’t require particularly strong materials or extra-heavy-duty construction.

However, if your deck or backyard requires a much larger awning, retractable awnings are available in sizes up to forty feet wide with an eighteen foot projection. This is an absolutely huge retractable awning and requires excellent engineering, strong materials, heavy duty construction and professional installation.

Thankfully, several companies make giant awnings that meet these specifications. The Nuimage retractable awning 9700hd is available up to forty feet wide and a fourteen and one-half foot projection, the Eclipse Total Eclipse retractable awning is available up to forty feet wide and a sixteen and one-half foot projection and the Alutrex Madeira Giant retractable awning is available to forty feet wide with a massive eighteen foot projection. These awnings are made well enough to work well at these huge sizes, but make sure you use a professional installer who knows how to work giant awnings. They are extremely heavy and require special extra heavy duty brackets and solid mounting.

Alutex Retractable Awnings

While there are many companies producing retractable awnings, one stands out for providing superior value and quality: Alutex Awnings.

Alutex has been making quality retractable awnings in New Jersey for over 20 years. You probably haven’t heard of them because making awnings is exactly what they do best – they aren’t great marketers like some other well-known awning makers. But would you rather buy a retractable awning from a company that is great at making awnings? Or would you rather buy an awning from and company that is great at marketing?

Visit www.alutex.com for more information and a dealer locator.

Retractable awnings in Montclair, NJ

Find retractable awnings in Montclair, NJ. Breslow Home Design Center has been providing superior products and service for over 80 years. Shop in the comfort of your home for retractable awnings. Breslow offers in home consultations for free. A Breslow salesperson will visit your home and provide you with expert product and style advice along with a no obligation quote. Professional installation and maintenance services are also available. Choose from a selection of leading retractable awning brands such as Sunsetter, NuImage, Eclipse, Sunesta and Alutex. All awnings are available in any Sunbrella awning fabric and optional Somfy motor and electronic components. Breslow can provide awnings for any budget or need. Visit www.breslow.com today or call (973) 992-2333 to schedule your consultation.

Retractable awnings in South Orange, New Jersey

Find retractable awnings in South Orange, New Jersey. Breslow Home Design Center has been providing superior products and service for over 80 years. Shop in the comfort of your home for retractable awnings. Breslow offers in home consultations for free. A Breslow salesperson will visit your home and provide you with expert product and style advice along with a no obligation quote. Professional installation and maintenance services are also available. Choose from a selection of leading retractable awning brands such as Sunsetter, NuImage, Eclipse, Sunesta and Alutex. All awnings are available in any Sunbrella awning fabric and optional Somfy motor and electronic components. Breslow can provide awnings for any budget or need. Visit www.breslow.com today or call (973) 992-2333 to schedule your consultation.

Retractable awnings in Livingston, NJ

Find retractable awnings in Livingston, NJ. Breslow Home Design Center has been providing superior products and service for over 80 years. Shop in the comfort of your home for retractable awnings. Breslow offers in home consultations for free. A Breslow salesperson will visit your home and provide you with expert product and style advice along with a no obligation quote. Professional installation and maintenance services are also available. Choose from a selection of leading retractable awning brands such as Sunsetter, NuImage, Eclipse, Sunesta and Alutex. All awnings are available in any Sunbrella awning fabric and optional Somfy motor and electronic components. Breslow can provide awnings for any budget or need. Visit www.breslow.com today or call (973) 992-2333 to schedule your consultation.

Retractable awnings in Short Hills New Jersey

Find retractable awnings in Short Hills, NJ. Breslow Home Design Center has been providing superior products and service for over 80 years. Shop in the comfort of your home for retractable awnings. Breslow offers in home consultations for free. A Breslow salesperson will visit your home and provide you with expert product and style advice along with a no obligation quote. Professional installation and maintenance services are also available. Choose from a selection of leading retractable awning brands such as Sunsetter, NuImage, Eclipse, Sunesta and Alutex. All awnings are available in any Sunbrella awning fabric and optional Somfy motor and electronic components. Breslow can provide awnings for any budget or need. Visit www.breslow.com today or call (973) 992-2333 to schedule your consultation.

Retractable Awnings Are Extremely Popular In New Jersey

The summer heat in New Jersey can be rather bothersome. If you don’t have air conditioning, it can sure make things unbearable. And trying to enjoy the backyard can not only be uncomfortable in the hot sun, but it is also dangerous from sunburn and the other health risks of the sun. Many people living in New Jersey have happily added a retractable awning. This serves a dual purpose. On the one hand, it helps them keep cool; on the other hand, it also helps conserve energy.

During the summer we have to put up with the heat, added to this is the rising costs of our utility bills, thanks to the continuous running of the air conditioning. A retractable awning is helpful as it helps to keep the house cool, especially those sides that get too much of heat.

Most importantly, adding a retractable awning enables you to really enjoy your back yard. The awning provides protection from the sun, and an area to relax that is quite a bit cooler. The awning simply allows you to spend more time in your nice backyard, whether entertaining or just hanging out.

And of course the lower utlity bills help too. It’s important to save wherever you can, especially if your living in a place like New Jersey where the heavy precipitation and long winters makes it essential to save as much as you can.

At my place, I have a beautiful retractable patio awning made with Sunbrella awning fabric. It matches so well with our house that I receive compliments about it all the time.

Retractable Awnings Versus Fixed Canopies

Many people are often confused as to go in for a retractable awning or a fixed canopy. Moreover, when they go to an awning company, they realize that most companies sell fixed canopies as well as retractable awnings, making their choice all the more difficult. Of course it helps that since they are in a store, they would get good advice as to the differences between the two, and what would be a good option or them.

So, if you’re considering an awning, you need to make sure that you’re aware of the advantages and disadvantages of both. A friend of mine, did not do get spadework and ordered a fixed canopy instead of an awning. She’s now stuck with it as she can’t return the product one’s it’s been installed.

There are plenty of options today, and you need to decide as to what’s the main reason you want to get either one of the products.

What you need to know about retractable awnings?
Nowadays, retractable awnings have gained immense popularity because it’s both, easy to use and to install. People have realized that with a retractable awning they can open and close it as per their convenience. Moreover, you can get attractive awning fabric which complements your home and thus adds to the decorative value of your home.

Over the years, retractable awnings have seen many changes and have improved. It has become a popular choice of sunshade for many people. In addition, you can get Sunbrella awning fabric, which serves a dual purpose. In addition to providing you shade, it acts as a sunscreen as well. This is an important development and people have realized.

You should also know that a retractable awning can last for about 25 years or so. Retractable awnings are available with a remote control or the more traditional hand crank. In addition, you can also decide how much slope you want with your retractable awning and can adjust it accordingly. You can also add other add-on’s to your retractable awning such as a wind sensor.

What you need to know about fixed canopies
Since they are a permanent, fixed product, fixed canopies are more difficult to deal with. They are fixed on the side of your house. If the weather is bad, it cannot be temporarily retracted. Also, these fixed canopies might pose a problem when you want to view something from out of your window.

Most often the fabrics that are used for the canopies are opaque and this makes it difficult to have a clear view. Maintenance is another issue that you have to deal with. Since they are a permanent fixture and cannot be removed in bad weather, they are more susceptible to damage from harsh weather.

A fixed canopy lasts for about five years. Fixed canopies are cheaper than retractable awnings.

The main purpose of a fixed canopy is to protect a certain portion of your home. Most often, you’ll find a fixed canopy at the entrance of a home or over a window. More and more people are realizing the many benefits of having an awning as against a fixed canopy, and are opting for an awning.

Weigh the pros and cons for both products and decide what would be a good option for yourself.

Using Sun and Wind Sensors With a Retractable Awning

Most home owners understand the benefits of a retractable awning, both in terms of protection from the sun, and as a method of adding to the looks of their home. What often puts people off is the issue of having to adjust the awnings to compensate for changes in the sun’s position and wind strengths.

As the sun keeps moving across the sky, the angle of the sunlight keeps changing which means you have to keep adjusting the retractable awning to keep where you are in the shade. In addition, sudden gusts of wind can blow everything around and create a mess that ruins the ambiance of you garden or patio. The solutions to both these problems are now available.

Sun sensors are connected to the motor of the retractable awning and can be set to adjust open and close the awning according to settings you have programmed them for. For example, once you know that at specific times of the day you need the awning to be fully extended for protect you from the sunlight and the heat, and have set the sun sensors accordingly, they will adjust the retractable awning for you every day without any further action on your part.

Sun sensors are great for both, when you are alone and hate getting up to change the retractable awning setting to compensate for the sun’s changed position and also for when you are entertaining and leaving your guests to keep adjusting the awning is a pain.

Wind sensors function like sun sensors in adjusting retractable awnings, but instead of detecting changes in the sun’s position and strength, they detect changes in the wind. If you are entertaining, and the wind starts gusting suddenly and begins to blow things all over the yard, wind sensors will sense the changes in the wind and adjust the retractable awning accordingly.

Once you have sun and wind sensors fitted to your retractable awnings, you no longer need to worry about opening and closing them to suit the sun and wind conditions. All this will be done for you automatically. You will be able to come and go to and from your garden or patio whenever you feel like it knowing that the retractable awning will be set for the maximum protection. Moreover, your outdoor furniture will be automatically protected from fading due to excessive exposure to sunlight and from being too warm to sit on comfortably when you go outside.

With sun and wind sensors fitted to your retractable awnings, you still need to be careful when you leave your home. You don’t want to leave your awning extended because if the wind picks up your awning can be damaged. Wind sensors don’t react quickly enough to retract the awning in the event of a wind gust.

With the range of retractable awnings, awning fabrics and add ons like the sun and wind sensors, buying the right kind of awning, both from the practical and the decorative perspectives can be sometimes confusing. The best way is always to get professional advice and support. If you are looking for a retractable awning in New Jersey (NJ), visit Breslow Home Design Center which has been helping folks find the right awning solutions for their homes since 1924.

Can Retractable Awnings Withstand Wind?

Many people have the question of whether a retractable awning can withstand high winds and if so how much they can stand. The answer to this question really depends on the awning and how it is made. It will also depend on how much wind your awning exposed to.

Remember that the purpose of awnings is to shade you from the sun which does not necessarily mean that it will shade from the wind too. In many cases the manufacturers of retractable awnings say that they can withstand winds up to 35 miles per hour. The challenge with this notion is that unless they have been tested to do this you really do not know.

When you think about wind you also have to understand that wind is not the same all the time. On any given day the wind can start out slow, gain speed and then speed can lessen all in a few minutes. Also, there are several factors that can determine how wind will affect your awning: where your house sits, the landscape around your house that includes trees, your geographic location, and the awning itself. Depending on how your awning sits on your house you may have it withstand more or less wind.

There are several ways to tell if your awning has too much wind and you need to retract it. Some people say that if you can’t read a newspaper or magazine comfortably under your retractable awning the wind is probably too high and you should retract it. Other people say that if you are sitting under the awning and the wind becomes uncomfortable for you to sit within, it’s time to retract your awning.

One of the challenges for homeowners is that they install their awnings with minimal pitch. This can create a problem later because the slant of the awning will allow wind to get underneath the fabric and cause the draft to go up, which can damage the frame of the awning; this means you will have to replace it. You may be able to repair some if they are minimally damaged but again it depends on the wind.

Wind creates pressure on the awning and compromises its ability to do what it is designed to do. In one example, a 20 mph wind was shown to create about 2 lbs of pressure per square foot. If you had a 20′ x 13′ awning this pressure would translate into about 520 lbs of pressure on your awning.

Some people think that with automated controls they are safe when in a high wind but think again. The time that it takes an automated control to retract an awning can be longer than the gust of wind that comes up. Since winds happen quickly and usually come in big bursts your awning will not have the time to read the fact it needs to close quickly enough. A good rule of thumb is to retract the awning as soon as you see that they wind is picking up.