If you are like me who loves to spend more time at home, then you know how much important moments are spent in your outdoor area. Whether it’s for dining or for recreation, your home’s outdoor, particularly the patio, offers a great place for bonding. This makes patio awnings an essential addition to your homes.

I recently just had a patio awnings installed in our home for the very reason of making my family, which includes me, my husband, and two kids, to want to stay home more. For those of you who are not familiar of awnings, they’re supplemental roof or a cover installed in the outdoor area of your homes. It’s often installed to give more shade to your outdoor, but they also works well in adding aesthetics to houses.

While trying to decide how our home awnings should look like, I also stumbled upon with the choice to get whether a manual or electric awnings. Manual awnings are of course those that requires to be hand-cranked to be opened or close, on the other hand, electric awnings, also called retractable awnings, are those that open with just a push of a button. The difference of the two? – Of course, that the last is more expensive than the first. Well not exactly just that. Electric awnings for houses, because they are electronically-operated, are easier and more convenient to use. Think about ease.

A retractable electric awnings for houses extends to keep you from the sun, but can be retracted so you can customize how much shade would you want to enjoy outside. They are usually operated using a remote control, a button, or a sensor. Sensor-triggered awnings has the functionality to extend depending on the weather condition – sunny, rainy, or windy.

Manual awnings on the other hand, are cheaper options, but they’re quite reliable, especially in times of power outage. They’re also quite versatile coming in as wall-mounted or fixed and free-standing.

Wall-mounted or fixed electric awnings as its name suggests are those that provide constant shelter to your area. For added strength, some of them come with additional support poles. On the other hand, free-standing ones, are portable awnings which allow you to move its place anytime.

So which one is which for your homes?

I’d say your budget should be a big consideration as well as the functionality of your patio awnings. If you want your patio awnings 24/7, then go for manual and wall-mounted ones. If, however, you want to be able to play around with the amount of sunlight to bask on, and if you have enough budget to do so, then go for electric awnings for your house.

Whichever type you choose, always bear in mind what you need it for and how much money do you have to spend for it. But of course getting patio awnings in your homes does not stop with just the decision to get electric or manual ones. After that, you would still have to decide on the design, the color, and the material of your patio awnings.

That sure is a lot to think about!