In a conversation about awnings, it’s easy to focus on the practical benefits. Our 4 favorites are:
- Reducing air conditioning costs with window awnings.
- Extending outdoor living space with a porch or patio canopy.
- Having a dry place to open your umbrella or slip on your jack under your door awning.
- Directing water away from vulnerable drainage points.
But shade matters more than just the function that it serves.
It also provides lifestyle benefits that aren’t often discussed in our world. With just a small shift in the conversation, we can reframe it in a way that might make you see awnings in a whole new way.
Save Some Money & The Environment
Scorching Midwest Summers mean hefty power bills. KCP&L has reported that At least 900 customers using the budget billing program are paying about $100 more each month than in the past.
Window awnings keep the sunshine where it belongs…outside. And they’re good for the environment because you’re consuming less energy by keeping indoor temps lower so your air con runs less frequently.
They’re also good for the environment because they’re not mass-manufactured in a plant. We manufacture our awnings by hand in our facility in the Crossroads District in Kansas City. We have solar panels on top of our building to lower our carbon footprint.
And we reuse and recycle our metal and other scrap materials whenever we can or dispose of them responsibly when we can’t.
Increase Your Home’s Square Footage Without Adding On
There are certain times of year when having a 2ndliving room would come in handy – BBQ’s, holidays & birthday parties. Adding a cover to your porch, patio or pergola can extend your living space, giving guests a shady place to grab a drink, extra seating for hanging out and eating and a place to send pets and kids where they’re not underfoot.
Since KC can have decent temps for the months of April through October, that’s a good portion of the year that an awning or canopy could be integral to hosting the perfect shindig. And if you like to enjoy the sunset at dusk, looking at the stars, or just want a littlebit of sunshine you can always go with a retractable patio or deck awning. Shade when you want it, sunshine when you don’t, all with the simple touch of a button. (Just don’t forget the SPF.)
Roll Out The Welcome Mat
If you only get one chance to make a good first impression, a door awning should be at the top of your home accessory list. By the time they reach your front door, your guests will inevitably have items in their hands – crockpot, casserole dishes or bottles of wine. Or they’re fumbling with jackets, umbrellas, car seat carriers or strollers. Or wrangling kids and/or pets. In the event of precipitation, this can be precarious. I once dropped an entire crockpot of meatballs on someone’s slippery front porch before a Super Bowl party.
A door awning provides a dry, shady spot to take a minute to gather yourself as you’re coming and going.
No One Wants A Basement Pool
When I was a kid, my favorite Aunt built a pool at our Grandparents’. You would have thought we won the lottery! We were convinced we had climbed a giant rung on the social ladder. Suddenly, popular kids wanted to hang out with us on the weekends.
A pool is desirable…in your yard, when you built in on purpose. When Mother Nature donates one to you and its location is your basement, garage or any other ground-level room in your home, it doesn’t feel luxurious.
Flooding can be devastating in terms of clean up and sometimes irreplaceable, destroyed personal property. People don’t often think of awnings for their drainage functionality. But the best way to keep water out of your house is to keep it away from points of entry like basement and lower level doors and windows and stairs to lower level entrances.
We get calls every spring when the monsoon season starts. Your sump pumps can use all the help it can get! Awnings divert water away from your foundation where it might seep in. It’s only logical!
Live Life Shadefully
Shade definitely matters for practical reasons. But the lifestyle benefits of awnings allow you to live a more full life by reducing your carbon footprint, allowing you to be a fabulous host, providing a cool relaxing spot for your guests and family, and helping you make a stellar first impression while keeping your family mementos safe and dry.
Do you believe that shade matters? Hop on over to Instagram and tag your pics with #shadematters to give us your best shade tips.
And if you think your home could benefit from some of the shade solutions mentioned here, contact us here. We’d love to talk with you more!