5 Ways Outdoor Awnings Help Cut Down on Costs

January 1, 2019

Installing sun shade awnings is without a doubt a great way to improve the curb appeal of your property. Sun shade awnings provide a welcoming and charming lived-in feel, in addition to a touch of visual depth, to your home. But that’s not the only reason that you should think about adding sun shade awnings to your home’s windows; believe it or not, they also help to reduce your monthly energy costs!

How Sun Shade Awnings Help Reduce Costs

There are a number of ways that the use of outdoor awnings can help to reduce the costs of maintaining your home. The following are a few of those ways.

• Lower cooling costs in the summer — The sun tends to shine its brightest during the summer season, resulting in a large amount of sunlight flooding certain areas of your home. The use of awnings on windows that are facing the sun can help to reduce the amount of sunlight coming into the home. This is important because sunlight will heat up your home when you’re trying to cool it down.

When sunlight is able to penetrate the home during the summer months, it raises your indoor temperature, which means your air conditioner has to use up more energy to cool your home to your desired comfort level. By using outdoor awnings to block some of the sun’s heat, your air conditioner won’t have to use as much energy, resulting in lower energy costs!

• Lowering heating costs in the winter — By retracting your outdoor awnings during the winter months, you can let more sunlight in, thereby helping heat your home. This allows your heating system to use less energy in order to raise your home’s temperature.
• Lowering HVAC replacement costs — The less that your heating and cooling systems have to work to heat or cool your home, the more likely it is that they will last for a longer period of time. Without the use of awnings, your HVAC system will have more work to do, which will increase the likelihood that its life span will be shortened.
• Lowering HVAC repair costs — If your HVAC system is working twice as hard as it should and twice as long as it should in an attempt to heat or cool your home, then it’s going to endure more wear and tear over the years. This wear and tear is going to affect its performance, resulting in the need for more regular repairs. The use of awnings can help reduce the stress that your HVAC system experiences, thereby reducing the need for repairs.
• Lowering furniture and flooring repair and replacement costs — Sunlight contains harmful UV rays, which will end up causing damage to carpeting, hardwood flooring, upholstered furniture and more over time. The longer such items are exposed to UV rays, the more likely they are to experience fading, thereby ruining their visual splendor.

It can be quite expensive trying to repair pieces of furniture or flooring back to their formal visual glory, and could even result in the need for replacement. The use of awnings to block out UV rays during the summer can help extend the lifespan of your flooring and furniture.

As you can see, the use of sun shade awnings can help to reduce your energy costs as well as help preserve your HVAC system, furniture and flooring. And, of course, they are a great way to add just a little bit of visual charm to your home’s exterior! To get a free awning quote, be sure to contact us at Dorchester Awning today.