Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Dec 10, 2012 6:42 pm Hi all, We're at the point where we need to arrange some awnings for the N and W facing windows in our rumpus room as well as the W facing window in one of our bedrooms We have a semi-decent passive cooling arrangement working in the house with windows in bedrooms/bathroom and the study to the south feeding cooler air into the N facing living areas via a single passage (as well as the W facing rumpus room window to a certain extent) kinda like what is shown in the hacked together diagram below: As indicated we need awnings for the rumpus room and BR4 - the primary function of the awnings will admittedly be to limit the sun that hits these windows in the afternoon but in my experience while traditional canvas awnings do block out the sun they also kill off any airflow. Because of that we are looking at using a screen mesh-type fabric (VisionWeave Plus 2+2 mesh) rather than a traditional canvas -will the screen (mesh-type) fabric do a good enough job of restricting the amount of sunlight hitting the window to make the benefit of potentially better airflow (as well as still being able to see out the windows) while the awnings are down worthwhile? (the awnings will be of sufficient size (overlap) to cut off any direct sunlight which might hit the windows in question) If anybody has experience / advice to share wrt with these mesh screen-type awnings (either from having them on their house or as an installer) then I'd appreciate any feedback you might have to give. p.s. I've moved this into General Discussion (as well as elaborated a little on my original post) as the lack of responses in Windows and Doors may have indicated that wasn't the right forum to post this in... Some people apparently have nothing better to do than comment on other people's sigs. Re: External awnings - canvas or mesh? 2Dec 10, 2012 9:29 pm My MIL has canvas awnings on her north facing windows and mesh ones on her west facing windows. I'm not sure about the airflow situation with the mesh ones but I much prefer being able to see through them rather than the wall of canvas. I would imagine that they get reasonable airflow through them and they definitely cut the heat significantly. She has electric motors on all the blinds. One of the west facing ones is over a door so really needs to be electronically controlled. She is aged and has difficulty with her hands so needs them all to be easy to use. Re: External awnings - canvas or mesh? 3Dec 29, 2012 9:33 am Have you considered a wind-out folding arm awning for your north facing sliding door? We have one on our large-ish (north-west) sliding door, and it's great. You get shade without the door being obstructed at all. I posted some photos a while back in a thread somewhere...will try to find it. They're quite expensive, but much nicer than the old fashioned awnings. Not really useful in west-facing situations though, as the sun will angle under them as it gets lower. This kind of thing, anyway: http://www.shadeaustralia.com.au/categories/Awnings/98/ When planning your landscape, if possible, use deciduous trees for long-term shade in summer and sun in winter as well. Re: External awnings - canvas or mesh? 4Dec 30, 2012 9:29 am I am having an awning over a (big) west facing window and have chosen to go with canvas since the reason for it is heat reduction in summer. I am also in Melbourne and used to live in Sydney; other locations may render some of my points irrelevant. In your situation, I'd consider if I wanted to encourage wind from the west coming into the house anyway - I'm used to westerly winds being hot and unpleasant and therefore undesirable. Also, I don't think the air would flow in through bed 4 and do the U turn into the kitchen/dining/living. I think it would tend to flow out that way, rather than in? Next point is natural light - how much do you want it? Canvas will cut the natural light into the rumpus especially; not a problem for watching TV but a pain if you want to sit and read novels in there. I had canvas awnings in my last house and if they cover all the window, they really do block the light, just like having heavy curtains there. And in bed 4 - is it just for sleeping? Or will the occupant be doing things like studying in there too? And lastly, what are your internal window coverings? If you were putting up full blockout curtains, I'd say mesh would be enough, but light curtains or blinds might do better with canvas externally. Land settled May '14. Building the PD Hoffman39: 5/11=site start, 13/11=slab pour, 26/11=frame complete, 10/12=roof on, 12/12=bricking started. Blog: http://jyndeira.net/blog/ Re: External awnings - canvas or mesh? 5Dec 30, 2012 9:36 am kek Have you considered a wind-out folding arm awning for your north facing sliding door? We have one on our large-ish (north-west) sliding door, and it's great. You get shade without the door being obstructed at all. I posted some photos a while back in a thread somewhere...will try to find it. They're quite expensive, but much nicer than the old fashioned awnings. Not really useful in west-facing situations though, as the sun will angle under them as it gets lower. This kind of thing, anyway: http://www.shadeaustralia.com.au/categories/Awnings/98/ When planning your landscape, if possible, use deciduous trees for long-term shade in summer and sun in winter as well. We'll have paved area - about 3 x 5m which I want to cover - was thinking of a clear "plastic" type product as roofing. Have to check the costing comparisons on these vis a vis awnings. Will face due north but will cop west sun in late arvo. Re: External awnings - canvas or mesh? 6Jan 06, 2013 1:42 pm Awnings are pretty expensive, so that may be the deal-breaker for you, especially since you have several other windows to sort out as well. From memory, ours cost about $2600 for one slightly wider than our 2.4m-wide glass area (it extends out about 2.2m). There are cheaper ones available, but the quality is very ordinary and they won't last. It was absolutely worth it for us though, as the room is my workspace and was unbearable on hot summer afternoons, even with blockout blinds closed and the air con running. MATE!!! I've checked their website and it's a 90% match at least. I've just called them and sent the pic through to confirm it's the same product. Thank you heaps. 3 6487 Hello everyone Please advice me how can I install mesh security window or we cab say mesh flyscreen inside while the pvc plantation shutters are already installed? Is… 0 11593 |