When it’s a hot summer day, you add a wide-brimmed hat and take shelter under a tree or a patio umbrella, seeking a little shade. What if there was a sunhat for your home? Awnings provide seasonal sun protection and can help you reduce the energy that you use to cool your home during the summer months.

The Cost of Home Air Conditioning

In some parts of the country, the winter months are a bustling time for energy providers, as people use energy to keep their homes warm. However, the summer months can be equally energy-intensive. According to Energy.gov, air conditioners use about five percent of all of the electricity produced in the United States, and 16 percent of the average household’s electricity bill. Summer is the peak time for this energy use, and according to Carbonrally, the average home spends about $280 during this time just on air conditioning. Not only is this energy use expensive, it’s also costly for the planet: about two tons of carbon dioxide escapre into the air due to each individual home’s summer electricity use.

Reducing Summer Energy Costs

There are so many strategies you can use to reduce summer energy costs. These include adding fans, using natural ventilation strategies, such as opening the windows at night or creating a cross-breeze by opening windows in different parts of the house, sealing your home to prevent heat from entering, and reducing your use of warm appliances such as the stove top. However, there is more you can do to prevent the air in your home from getting warm.

By looking outside your home, you can prevent the sun from shining in. As the sun shines into your home, it warms the air inside and it also warms specific items inside your home. That rock wall around the fireplace that you love in the winter months can become warm and exude heat far into the evening. What can you do to stop that summer sunshine from sneaking in? Protect your home from the sun. Planting trees, adding arbors with vines, or placing blinds in your windows can all stop the sun from heating up your room.

Motorized Awnings Give Flexible Sun Protection

Adding awnings to your home can also reduce summer energy costs, since these awnings act as flexible sun protection that you can move in and out as the day or the season progresses. According to Energy.gov, awnings can reduce “solar heat gain in the summer by up to 65% on south-facing windows and 77% on west-facing windows.” Choose an opaque fabric, and choose light colors to reflect the sunlight. A well-designed awning also gives heat that’s trapped near the awning an opportunity to escape, with vents to allow heat to move away from the house.

When having awnings installed around your home, determine whether you’d like seasonal awnings or retractable awnings. Some awnings go onto your home during the summer months and are removed at other times of year. Others are motorized awnings that can move easily in and out. For ease of use, choose an awning that you can control with a remote control instead of a hand crank. Retractable awnings are especially useful at times during the summer and fall. On cooler days, you might want more sunlight in the house, while on days that are still warm, you can move the awning out to add sun protection.

Are you searching for a source of motorized awnings? Harry Helmet can help. With experience installing solar roofing, awnings, and gutter products, we’re your rooftop experts. Contact us today and learn more about patio awnings.

Written by Del Thebaud