Motorized Awnings – Shade at the Touch of a Button

During a summer in Los Angeles, the heat entering your home or business can make your air conditioner struggle to keep up. Most window treatments, even when closed, will still allow a significant amount of light and heat into your home or business. However, awnings project out from a building’s facade and hang over the window, blocking most or all light with opaque canvas material. Although these treatments can be large and bulky, Aero Shade Custom Window Treatments provide customized motorized awnings that can raise or lower with the touch of a button, greatly simplifying their operation.

What is a Motorized Awning?

Motorized Awning image A motorized awning is an awning that is extended and retracted using bi-fold metal arms. Its frame attaches to a wall and does not require any additional supports. Due to the method of operation, the width tends to limit the amount of area that the awning can shield. This limitation occurs because the arms that cause the awning to extend, fold back on themselves under the awning. Typically a motorized awning with a 13-foot width will extend a little under 10 feet, while a 10-foot-wide awning will extend to a little over 8 feet. (If you need an awning that extends further than that, check out our page on slide wire cable awnings. Aero Shade will be happy to help with advice on your particular requirements.)

Cassette or Non-Cassette Motorized Awning?

Aero Shade carries three different styles of motorized awnings: cassette, half-cassette, and standard awnings. These names refer to the various methods for storing an awning when it is closed. A standard awning is left open to the elements when it is closed. In a cassette system, the cassette provides complete protection from the elements for the awning, while it is closed. A half-cassette system is a hybrid of both systems. It has a covering that covers the top of the awning when retracted but does not cover the rest.

Awning Fabrics

There is a wide variety of patterned and solid color fabrics available from Aero Shade, with an option for a straight or scalloped valance. And there are two main kinds of awning material: a woven acrylic fabric, and a laminated fabric. However, there are many exceptions. Requests for canvas and other durable fabrics are not uncommon; Aero Shade can customize an awning out of just about any durable material.

The woven acrylic fabric is made of a woven layer of dyed acrylic with a top and bottom protective coating. The laminated fabric consists of a strengthening center layer of Dacron mesh. Either side of this Dacron layer is a layer of dyed acrylic weave. Finally, a top and bottom layer of protective covering are added, to make a total of 5 layers.

Options for your Custom Motorized Awning

Motorized Awning image 2 Because Aero Shade works exclusively with Lutron Motors, there is an amazing array of technical features that one can adapt for use with your motorized awning. To protect your awning from bad weather, there are wind and rain sensors that can detect increases in wind speed and close your awning automatically should there be sufficient risk of damage to it. The same device can detect high levels of rainfall and close the motorized awning. If you opt for System Integration, your awnings can be controlled using a smartphone app, allowing you to open or close your awning from anywhere in the world. You can also program your awnings with a variety of presets, so that the awnings know when to open or close according to different times of the day or year, or according to certain weather factors, as mentioned above.

Aero Shade also offers the option to add lighting to your canopy. The lighting units are fitted into the front profile of the canopy and have adjustable angles to suit your needs. When you call Aero Shade, we will discuss these and other options and how we can integrate them into your new motorized awning.

Professional Installation of Motorized Awnings in Los Angeles

A motorized awning is designed to have a downward slope when extended. This slope allows any rain and debris to fall off the canopy. Obviously, the installation requires careful planning to ensure that the awning will occupy the correct space while in either position. Because these awnings require motors and electricity, their installation has an extra layer of complexity.

At Aero Shade, we recommend professional installation for your motorized awning to ensure that it is fitted to the supporting wall safely, and that the electrical elements are connected according to Los Angeles’s safety code. Aero Shade has a well-trained staff that knows exactly how to install your motorized awnings. However, if you prefer to install your motorized canopy as a DIY project, Aero Shade will be happy to offer advice and assistance to ensure that your successful.

Choose Aero Shade for your Custom Motorized Awnings

Contact us at Aero Shade, and together we can look at all the options and configurations to find the best solution for your motorized awnings. Our designers will visit you at your home or business and help you determine the size and specifications for awnings that suit your individual needs. We can also discuss possible alternatives to motorized awnings if you are looking to provide shade for larger areas, or if you have design constraints that favor a different kind of covering.

At Aero Shade Custom Window Treatments, motorized awnings are just one of the many custom options we provide. We have many options for window treatments that shade, provide privacy and maintain temperatures in rooms and buildings. With our vast experience over the past 50 years, you can be sure that whatever kind of window covering or shade covering you need, we have the resources to make it happen for you, and we can provide the design expertise to make sure that your project is appropriate for your purposes and visually dynamic. Contact us at Aero Shade today, and see for yourself what we have to offer.