Smart Awnings

A retractable, motorized window covering can lower temperatures inside your house and the price of your utility bills.

The kitchen is the room for cooking, but the chef should never feel like she's the main dish. Unfortunately, that's exactly how Crissy Clarke felt in hers. As the sun set each day, shining in the west-facing window over the sink, the kitchen would heat up like a casserole in the oven. But the bright sunlight didn't just increase the temperature; it also threatened to damage the newly upholstered furniture in the adjacent family room. The morning sun was no less cruel. It would shine in the east-facing windows in the breakfast room, making the area uncomfortably warm.

Crissy wanted something to block the sun and protect her furniture without hiding her views of the Beaumont, Texas, blue sky or detracting from her home's architecture. "I love the windows and looking up at the sky, but the first week we were in this house, it was starting to get hot," Crissy says.

Shady Solution

The answer: motorized retractable awnings. There when you need them, rolled up when you don't, the awnings have a mind of their own, thanks to modem technology. Each awning has lateral arms that work almost like human arms, bending at an elbow. The arms fold up discreetly against the wall when the awning is closed.

The awnings roll up on a metal tube, and the motorized mechanism is inside. A remote switch, located inside the house, enables the awnings to be opened and closed at the touch of a button. The Clarkes' awnings know when to work on their own because automatic sensors gauge the sun's brightness, and the shades open and close accordingly. The level of sunlight is set on a control panel located inside a kitchen cabinet. Controls can also be purchased to gauge wind and rain.

While a manually operated awning only costs a few hundred dollars, an automatic, motorized awning can cost several thousand. The payoff, though, is protection from damaging UV rays and lower utility costs without sacrificing views. Awnings can lower the inside temperature by as much as 20 degrees, thus lowering the electricity bill. Even better, they keep the family chef from losing her cool.

AMY BICKERS MERCER

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation May 2004
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