Awnings: a simple cooling tech we apparently forgot about
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- Опубликовано: 20 авг 2024
- Seriously - where'd they go?
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A note on sun angles throughout the year:
I included (then removed) a section in the script where I explained how the correct overhang on a South-facing window will completely block the sun in the summer when the sun is high in the sky, but will let sunlight pass in the winter when the sun is low in the sky. A remnant of that lived on when I discussed those really fancy home design techniques.
The reason I decided to remove it was that there are plenty of places on Earth where this is irrelevant! If you live where heating your home is rarely if ever a concern, then that sort of selective blocking wouldn’t be important to you. You’ll want to block the sun all the time! And in any case, since adjustable awnings are a thing, a discussion on ideal overhang angles felt too weedsy. But, since a few remnants of that discussion remain, I wanted to leave this explanation so you’re not confused.
My Uncle had a 70's designed house that had a couple of cool things
long overhangs on the south facing picture window
A square design with the stairs to the basement in the middle. It had a hallway that went around the entire house
I've got a south-facing window in my office. In the summer it is not bad. In the winter the blinds need to be closed all day, otherwise the sun will be shining on the far side of the office!
A lot of modern houses just don't have overhangs and I hate it.
In addition to the wrap-around porch and other things, many rural farmhouses plant a row of deciduous trees along the southern property line that provide shade to the house and grounds in the summer when they have their leaves and in the winter allow more sunlight through to the same space. Its the same thought as the overhanging roof but expanded out to the area around a house.
Photochromatic window film also exists
Here in Stockholm, Sweden there are still awnings installations dating back from 15 years and further, but due to an almost complete drop in availability of retailers and competent installers there's just no way to buy them and to have them installed anymore. I imagine the situation is similar elsewhere.
Any technology channel can make a video on a new $1000 smartphone, only a master of the art can make a 20 minute video on awnings.
And only one of them is actually interesting and contains useful information.
@mr_gerber what do you mean? How else will I know that the new Phone has a camera, can take calls, and watch RUclips, and checks notes..... still missing a headphone jack?
Only Alec can make a 20 minute video about awnings without causing any yawnings!
That is GOOD
@@daniegamin xD
In temperate climates, planting deciduous trees on the sunward side of a house shades it in the summer and lets the sun in during the winter. Genius.
Agreed, thank you people who thought of that 50 years ago so I could buy this house and benefit now
That's how my granny's house stays cool. Even in the hottest days her house is pleasant even without any fans. Just open all the windows and all is good
Generally good but unfortunately the tree roots get to be a problem for water draining off the property and into the sewer, so they can end up incurring a maintenance cost.
They sure are pretty though.
My boss has that on the southern facing side of his home, he used wisteria and a trellis. It makes a huge difference as soon as that stuff takes off for the year.
@@dvlmc How are roots a problem for drainage? People plant trees SO their large puddles of water, or soft muddy yard, can become more dry. Trees drink the water. They _promote_ drainage.
No other RUclipsr has ever influenced me to buy things as much as you. I’ve changed the type of can opener I buy, the type of air conditioner, and now I’m going to cover all of my windows with awnings.
I've recently been in Vienna historical center and noticed baroque buildings to have awnings (didn't know the name back than, but understood its for cooling).
Same on the can opener!
I bought a 1950’s toaster because of him. Best toaster ever (it’s automatic beyond belief!)
Don't buy the awings yet, he hasn't provided convincing evidence that it's better.
@@AshiStarshade lol, I live in Australia dunno about you, but they are everywhere here because they do work.... Not everyone has them because they are considered ugly by some and or the developer/owner decides to cheap out.
Yo I'm living in an apartment where the sun comes straight through windows on one wall and that side of the house is 15 to 20 degrees warmer in a heat wave. I've been huddling in one room with the ac and blankets nailed up to keep the cold air in, thinking to myself "what in the world can I do to improve this." I did NOT think of awnings! This is a blessing thank you for reminding me that awnings exist
Close white aluminum blinds on those windows. Put awning and any shade you can outside the window. It will cool the place insanely
Nah, awnings suck and are ugly. Lookup thermal window film. They keep the heat out so so well and no one outside, can see inside your window- BONUS! Let's see a stupid awning do that! Plus those things only rip and fall apart....they are a money pit and that film is like 20 bucks. Trust me.
(It's forbidden in my lease), but you can also tape aluminum foil to your windows to reflect the sun! It's ugly, but it works!
@@TS-eo9uf Same! I used some old reflective roll insulation - it's like bubble wrap but painted silver - and taped it to the inside. Definitely helps; not perfect, but helps.
@@Yuukire Shit taste. Awnings are neat and look cool.
15:16 "It's not like awnings don't come with any drawbacks..."
Indeed. Many awnings can be drawn back during the winter months to let more heat energy in, and let you enjoy the sight of a beautiful winter day.
The point is that the sun is lower in the sky in winter, so how much light reaches the window automagically changes seasonally.
@@jimurrata6785 you're right but also whoosh because joke about "draw-backs"
@@lauram5905 Also whoosh because the windows can be left open while still being shaded from the sun because awning
And some places still get this white powdery stuff in Winter called snow. You don’t want this on a fabric awning!
@@jimurrata6785 this is correct. And hence you can do this with a permanent roof or solar shade, measured to allow a certain angle of light through.
If you've ever lived in a house that had awnings and then had them removed, you learn quickly why they were installed in the first place.
Not really though
Same with mature trees. We had a massive old oak that fell during a storm and we immediately realized just how valuable that shade was. Something to the tune of $50 a month.
The best compromise for areas that WANT the sun's heat in winter? Retractable awnings.
A bonus of retractable awning, you can retract them to protect them from extremely windy weather
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edit: And as usual, He covers that AFTER I posted my comment... I need to learn patience.
@HunterB738 I removed four awings from my south and west windows in November and loved the winter sun. Come May I installed the newly painted awnings. I have ordered canvas units that can be cranked into a storage condition in the winter allowing the huge windows to admit sunlight. One season savings suggest a two year payback.
@@HunterB738 if you already aren't paying much attention to how often/long your AC runs, it's hard to notice it running for longer and more frequently. But it does.
My grandfather was an awning builder. This is a great video. Thanks. It reminds me of him.
As an employee of an awning manufacturer in southwest PA, the pride i take in my job even more after this
0:35 “i’m not here to sell you anything”
And now it dawns on me that this guy had never run an ad in any of the days of videos that I have watched…
Thank you! You’re awesome 😊
Truly such a blessing to not have to endure an ad🙏🙏
Damn you're right..
@@theCountOfTotal he also the progenitor of the best response ever for the haters. "Be sure to tell me how wrong I am in the comments. It boosts engagement :D."
The Werefrog must have the ultimate of adblocker because RUclips never plays ads for The Werefrog.
@@freedomandguns3231I love our homeboy as much as the next nerd but he did nooooot come up with that lol
Michigan just prohibited HOAs from banning "Energy-saving improvement or modifications.” It doesn't specifically mention awnings, but I think it would be easy to argue they count. Here is what it says:
“Energy-saving improvement or modification” includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(i) A clothesline.
(ii) Air source heat pumps.
(iii) Ground source heat pumps.
(iv) Insulation.
(v) Rain barrels.
(vi) Reflective roofing.
(vii) Energy efficient appliances.
(viii) Solar water heaters.
(ix) Electric vehicle supply equipment.
(x) Energy-efficient windows.
(xi) Energy-efficient insulation materials.
Great to hear!
That's great! Makes me think I should check my state's laws - we probably don't have that.
Maybe you could argue it's insulation? Since it insulates you from the sunlight
@@Skracken yeah I mean energy efficient windows are on the list and it says "not limited to the following," so I feel like you wouldn't even have to make an argument beyond the obvious energy savings.
I know this is good news. But the idea that the government has to ban HOAs from banning these is very sad to me.
The insulation one is the most egregious. At least the other ones you can actually see.
When i was a kid, i remember helping my great grandfather take down the awnings in fall and put them up in the spring. This was in the 90s. Fun times!
When I was a kid, I remember helping my dad lower them in the beginning of summer and raise them in the fall. lololol. I live in Florida, we did it anytime a hurricane was coming and then eventually he was like eh, we'll just keep them down all the time.
My dad built my childhood home in northern NJ right after WW2. He installed huge wooden awnings over the big windows that face south west. They were not solid, but had vanes in them that were angled to block the summer sun but let the winter sun come through. One of my favorite childhood memories is laying in the big red leather recliner in the library in the winter sun, enjoying the warmth of it.
I'm in the process of building a large living room/library addition to my current house and am looking at various configurations of shades/overhangs to block the summer sun but take advantage of the winter solar gain. The goal is to make the room essentially passive solar and self sustaining heat wise.
One other innovation will be interior insulated shutters so I can block the heat moving through the windows summer or winter as the direction of heat flow changes.
An architect here.
The weather in North Africa gets really hot in the summer (more than 40 degrees Celsius or 104 F) and most of my clients request these automatic aluminium shutters which are quite ugly and make all the windows look like mini- garages, but they do a great job in reflecting most of the heat and direct sunlight. The issue that it's either you solely rely on artificial light or just turn the house into a glorified greenhouse.
What most contemporary architects do is actually look back at how traditional houses were built because they were excellent at utilizing materials and shade to naturally cool down houses by A LOT.
One of the techniques used is that the awning is actually part of the building, where the window seems like it is indented in the wall (which is either built thick 50cm or almost 20 inches or it is a double wall with air between them that act as an insulator. ) or carved in and almost no direct sunlight reaches it unless it's late afternoon and by then it isn't that hot. the thick walls also help a great deal with not letting the heat reach the internal walls. Some old houses have horizontal wooden slanted louvres called "Shish" and that blocks the sun without blocking airflow and it is surprisingly effective.
Another technique which is genius is the use of windcatchers, where a chimney-esque structure is built but facing the wind (Which is NW where i live) and that "catches" the cool breeze. Cold air is heavier so it descends until it is heated back up again and escapes through other openings that are high near the ceiling creating a cross-ventilation system and you have natural cooling all day long. some old lavish houses in Old Cairo even have a dedicated livingroom with a water fountain right under the windcatcher to introduce humidity to the dry desert wind and make it even more pleasant and cooling.
It baffles me how these are solutions that are tried and true, much cheaper than AC, more aesthetically pleasing and more environmentally friendly, yet everyone opts for AC that just dumps more heat making outdoor spaces unbearable in the summer.
There is a building in India designed to be cool you may want to check out if you havent heard of it. It uses purely tricks in the architecture to keep the building cool. If I remember correctly it stores historical documents and stuff
As a German I'm repeatedly surprised people don't have our style of shutter more around the globe...
I wonder if European colonial influence has had any hand in bringing this trend over there.
Personally living in an old brick home and having our "Rolladen" down during the hottest time of the day keeps me nice and cool, at least downstairs...
They also provide great protection against the weather yet are typically made from plastic
window shading and air exchange do nothing for dehumidification.
one of the main reasons to use a/c is to dehumidify.
Because capitalism
@@donhomer6348 you tried. Now go back to the basics.
4:10 props to Alec, a well dressed man, for wearing a necktie to avoid being compared to a beautiful home which is devoid of awnings
And also for not wearing a necktie to avoid being compared to an old, dated home
Nice Tie Alec.
Nice Alec, tie.
Tnx for pointing that out. I missed seeing it.
Ya beat me to it. 🤣
Growing up in FL, all the houses used to have awnings. Not only did the provide shade for the windows but they also protected the windows during hurricanes. I remember going out and removing the bottom rods, folding them down and then bolting them to the wall under the window.
Gotta do this on my FL mobile home a couple times a year. Even if the trailer is blown away, at least the windows are protected😅
I find it funny how you mentioned the window shutters in opposition to the awning, but I have window shutters in my building and they can be turned into an awning by pulling a little lever to the side, so they can be both
Yeah, a retractable awning is just a slanted shutter, if I understood correctly. You could totally just design one device that is both based on how retracted it is.
The best "air conditioning" I've ever experienced came from trees all around our house. In summer, their leaves block the sunlight, and in winter, they shed their leaves to let the sunlight in. Great video 👍
I live in a Tree 🌴 you can't hear it
the trees won't block the hot air all around the house tho
Trees... Is there anything they CAN'T do!?
I don't have any grown trees yet.. but the 30-cm thick concrete slab coupled directly to mother Earth does the trick. Right now, daytime temperatures hover well over +30C, and inside it's +22C day and night without AC or forced ventilation. The catch, of course, is that it only works in single-floor houses.
@MichaelButlerC they can't do your taxes
Growing up, my grandparents' house (built in the 50s) in Miami had corrugated aluminum thicc boi awnings, which served double purpose as storm shutters. When a hurricane was a few hours away, I would go outside with my grandfather and disconnect the poles holding them up, then screw the bottom of them into an anchor point below the window. So much easier than buying plywood or putting up single purpose shutters.
Edit: Found them, they're called clamshell awnings.
Oh! I had these on the house I grew up in! They're really wonderful and should honestly be much more popular in hurricane zones.
And they are fun as hell to pull behind a 4 wheeler.
I've seen enough 80s cartoons to call that "transforming to base mode"
Grew up in central Florida in a house from the 20s, it also had those clamshell awning/storm shutters.
EDIT: Just looked at the old house on Google Street View, looks like one of the newer owners got rid of the storm shutters, although it also looks like the windows themselves were replaced at some point. Between that and the trees in the front and back yard, heat from the sun entering the windows probably isn't a huge concern for them.
The house I grew up in in Broward County had those, but over the years they became damaged and lost and we were too poor to replace them, so plywood and metal sheets gradually replaced them.
You forgot pergolas and vines: they are beautiful, can have fragrant flowers, can provide food, and...in the winter they "disappear" all by themselves!
As someone with awnings and tree cover on the southern side side of my home, I can 100% ABSOLUTELY CONFIRM they are keeping my house cooler than if we didn’t have them. We don’t have AC and my first floor area stays much cool during the day than when I lived in houses without awnings.
European guy here living in an old home: we have old wooden external rollers, which can be skewed in the summer to get some cooling airflow between the window and the roller. Have not seen those anywhere else, so once again: old-school passive solutions are sometimes just pure genius.
Same, works like a charm. And tree and greens, leafless in winter and shading in summer.
Very interesting. Ive been drawing up different solutions to my solar heating problems and one of my ideas has been building shade walls outside the main walls so i can either have fencing to grow a living shade producing vines or using the sunblocker fabric fence/covers along the secondary wall.
I also thought on creating entire secondary outer wall to block sun and storms wind and rain, snow, ice as we have a very wide range of weather and seasons here. But blocking as much of the sun off house to me would be the best function, as it would eliminate most all my overheating issues as long as i insulated the ceilings of rooms from attic space. But we just had new roof put on abd they installed series of new vents, and that really made a difference in getting the heat out, but we have attic fans also, so the air is always moving up there anyway.
I had ideas for something like you are describing also, but figured due to the height on the south side of house where most of these would be, it would require too much labor adjusting them all the time, as its so high,id need to use ladders to do that.
Im trying to create something with as little need for adjustment as possible, and my plans kept increasing the size of coverage of the awnings.
As for the shade walls, i was trying to decide which would be more cost effective and all seasonal useful, the entire large shade wall or independent awning system on house on different sides.
But as my design for awning building kept making them increasingly larger, thats when i thought maybe i should just put the money into total wall shading construct.
And i could grow plants on it also.
Yup same here windows pane are great and it also provide less light at night and more insulation when closed totally.
I live in a hot place and that's not enough for the summer.
@@Moskito844 If it is 40 degrees Celsius here I turn on the airco, mosquito, only for a couple of days, the shade and wind do the rest.
Funny to notice that here in Italy basically every house, condo, or villa is equipped with awnings, typically retractable ones. You're so encouraged to install them that if you buy certified sun blocking awnings, you get a tax refund.
You're saving the state money, smart government move
I'm in the US and I was at a newly developed mixed use area today (lots of shops with tons of apartments above) and I noticed that all of the apartment units that face the sun during the day have a sort of metal awning above every window. There's also a new community center in a neighboring city which has this sort of interrupted perforated metal structure a few feet in front of all of the south/west facing windows. We're back to awnings in some areas.
@@garthhh You are telling me that US building code allowed something reasonable (energy saving measures) while at the same time telling me that US zoning code allowed something reasonable (mixed use)? Would you look at that, the US is actually following the ideas of other places (sometimes).
Don't forget the olden wooden window shutters, or their spiritual successors, the rolling shutters. You could use them to make the inside of your house pitch black during the hottest days of the years. Many houses in Belgium still have them, they're more energy efficiënt than AC, that's for sure.
@@saladspinner3200 I do have them, of course! For sake of efficiency, they're filled with insulating foam.
Spaniard here doing a clear distinction:
- window blinds: they're for blocking all the light. This way you can sleep until whaterver hour you want in spite of the sun shining since 6AM
- awnings: they're to prevent the sun coming directly through windows (as you commented). Motorized smart ones are the norm one.
Also, here we don't have HOA, but exists something similar ("comunidad de vecinos"). They dictate the color of the awnings, but cannot forbid to install them ;)
When my one-story ranch house was built, in 1965, they put one of those old belt-drive 24-inch fans in the ceiling of my central hallway. It was the "poor man's air conditioning". In the evenings in spring and fall, the cooling effect can be very refreshing !
That windows joke at the start really came into it's own today 😅
underrated comment 😅
Sometimes what's bad for the world is good for the joke.
“It’s” means “it is”.
Chill too soon
@@ItBeThatWaySometimes dont care
Scrolled a bit, did not find a comment on it, but won't read 5k+ comments, so here it goes.
"European" roller shutters are double walled. They do not get hot from the inside. Some even have extra insulating foam inside. The window does not get warm.
Their added bonus is that they provide extra isolation in the winter, too. Keeping the cold out. Also, they provide protection from the elements. Hailstorms are no match for those shutters.
They can also be closed all the way, if properly installed, providing a blackout effect on the light, so you can sleep better during the day.
Last but not least, they provide added sound proofing.
PS. a few spelling corrections.
thx, came here to say this too!
I love a good roller shutter
I love window shutters, which is why I’m annoyed that I have the only real window in the house without one.
Yea... I love those things... I want that at home...
Rolladen are amazing. The instant relief when you close one on a sunny hot day. No, the windows definitely don't get hot - the main issue with them compared with awnings is that they block the light and view completely. It can be a bit depressing sitting in the dark.
Personally, I haven't noticed a big soundproofing effect - and when it's windy, they can be very noisy, rolled or unrolled. Wasps sometimes try to nest in them, but if you make sure to open and close them daily then they don't really get very far.
On the plus side though they can be electronically controlled and presumably some of the more up to date versions would be smart-enabled as well. Certainly there is an office building I go past frequently where I assume they are smart controlled because it seems that either every single blind is closed in the building or they are all open.
BTW the fabric awnings seem to be in common use here in Germany too, especially in apartment blocks. They can look a bit retro, but they work. I don't think they work as well as Rolladen but it's definitely something.
Living with rolling shutters in germany, the window can get hot, but ultimately most heat is reflected back out, either directly, because of the insulating double wall design or because of the airflow gaps that are present when not fully closing
My dad's office is an old single-level brick building built in the 1890s. It has awnings but there are issues. 1) Repairs and replacement parts 2) Fabric gets gross and/or bleached, and needs cleaning/replacing 3) You have to physically put a cast iron tool that looks similar to a tire iron into a mechanism and crank it. It also needs periodic lubricating. 4) Forgetting to bother to use the awnings
TL;DR They need maintenance and it's kinda hard to find someone to pay to do it for you if you're not a handy type. But also, it's not automatic so you kinda forget to use the things.
My parents did semi-recently have an electronic awning set up over the deck, though. Dad's very thrilled about it. However we still have the issue of forgetting to extend it. To be fair though, pretty much all of our house is automated as a smart home.
1) is definitely an issue, there just aren't enough companies even making these, so good luck finding parts. The building owner might be better off just replacing them with a newer type, if he can find one...
18:31 Recently we had a few hot days in germany with ~32-35°C. On the south west facing windows the roller shutters were "cold" from the interior side. They were like ambient temperature, but not heated up by the sun, which i believe is by design. They are made up of two layers of plastic with a hollow inside for the air to circulate.
On days like these they really do a lot to keep the inside of your house cool.
"That one infomercial" dudeee my family has quoted The SunSetter Retractable Awning commercial for close to two decades now. That commercial is the one constant in this ever changing world.
Who WOULDN'T want an instant porch in their backyard? I can't believe that commercial is still going
It keeps our patio at least twenty degrees cooler!
I find it wild how instead of making a new commercial, they just redub the price on the old one every so often.
I remember the radio version which had this annoying voice saying "tell them about the discount Harry!" and the audio of it is somehow missing from the Internet
@@SheepUndefined I don't think the price has actually gone down. At least not on the commercial
@@tylerboothman4496 No I mean it's gone up.
This video is a primo example of what I love about this channel. Forgotten technologies, design elegance and solutions to modern problems that we just left laying around getting dusty.
Forgotten in the US lol
Like that neat microwave he got from his grandparent's house.
@@miquelllorca8308 Forgotten in lots of places. Lots of comments about Europe using rolling shutters instead, which aren't the same. Not sure about modern Asian construction; balconies often have a similar effect as awnings.
@@mindstalk well thats even more sad. In Spain we have awnings on balconies also, which then have rolling shutters in their windows, so, triple protection?
@@miquelllorca8308Smart! Marvelous!
I suggest writing your senators and congressmen to have the DOE study how effective awnings are, and then release this report. I contacted DOE and they said they had not yet done any studies, but would if Congress tasked them to.
When we moved into our house in 1980 in Dallas, Texas, it had only two window, air conditioners and a nonworking swamp cooler. The enclosed.back porch had large west facing windows in a rather small room. We intended to use it as a utility room. I installed a cheap awning of surplus fabric from an awning store that I sewed around PVC pipe to hold it away from the building. It certainly helped. It also rotted out 2-3 years as I recall. I added in ceiling fans to the rooms that did not have them already, and several years later, after upgrading the electricity from tube and post, added air conditioning.
Silpoly fabric would be a good fabric for this. Silpoly is a tight woven, light weight polyester fabric that is coated with silicone.
UV will eventually degrade it, but the darker the color of the fabric, the longer it will last. Black, very dark brown, and very dark navy blue versions would last probably around a decade or so.
Perhaps even a better fabric would be a silicone coated hemp fabric, but it would be definitely pricier (and you would most likely have to add the silicone coating yourself, but that is not hard nor expensive to do).
The cut back to Alec with a tie on was hilarious.
Simple, Unexpected, yet Inevitable.
I love how it was loosely fit and disheveled to really draw attention to it.
@@anonymousvampire9572 And it helps make us all think "ah, he looks better without a tie" 🙂
Cue me, listening while folding laundry, then seeing the outtake and going back to see what I missed.
@@Pylodictisolivaris 3:50
In Florida they had metal awnings designed to double as hurricane protection. You would collapse snd fold down and lock in place over windows. They were incredibly simple and functional but I think are also largely gone because they make the house look dated.
I'm adding a whole set someone threw out! Fashion never gives consistent returns on cost like good design.
These make a lot more sense than dumping a bunch of time and money into running to the hardware store for plywood alongside everyone else and repeatedly fastening covers into your windows frames. Dated or not, my lazy ass would prefer the shutters/awnings. Oh and it would be fun to quite literally batten down the hatches!
They should bring them back. Who cares about dated looks when they're functional.
@@yensteel Srsly-Yesss!
We have the same in Australia for Cyclone season.
I grew up in Phoenix and now live in Tucson. When I was young there were a lot of different sun shades outside, but you are right they are mostly gone. One big reason is the storms we get. The monsoons create huge wind storms. It rips off roofs, trees, ect. Saying that me and my hubby have one from Costco and it’s a game saver. We also have plants giving shade all around our house.
There are also adjustable window shutters where you can use them as shutters or extend them out to use them as awnings. You can also recline them completely when you don't need them at all.
Since you mentioned us Europeans, I have to mention that awnings are still quite a bit popular, at least for the warmer climates. Greek roads are literally characterized by the unimaginably dull look of (cheap but very effective) canvas awnings littered on every building. This video actually kind of surprised me; I had no idea that they were so uncommon elsewhere, especially when they do their job so effectively!
Very common in central and southern Italy, but more often in the form of a rolling shutter. Although, recessed balconies have replaced them in some new buildings. Also door-like shutters are gaining popularity again.
Ah, I should add that most rolling shutters I have seen also have an awning feature of some sort.
you aint european
@@neondharma idk man, we picked the name for the continent... You can call it whatever you want tho
"Dull" canvas is the thing that makes that streets look not overwhelming littered but belonging together and most of the time quite nice. Just imagine if this canvas was printed with whatever that owner fancies... Would look much more horrible.
The glass awning idea is genius. You have a fine mind sir and I really enjoy hearing your ideas.
A friend mentioned that plants/trees are also a good way of dealing with this. I had a tree in front of a residence at one time that did a great job of blocking the sun - you could tell the difference when it was removed (it had died).
The problems I always encountered with awnings is that if you live somewhere it's windy they get ruined, ripped and if you are not paying attention they might even fly away
Dutch awnings are storm proof.
Hey there! I work as a blueprint designer for a fabric production business that primarily works in awnings, both metal and fabric! I think a large part of awnings fading away in residential appliances that wasn't discussed was the tightening of government restrictions and building codes. Back in yesteryear, there weren't a lot of solid, universal restrictions and standards, so awnings could be designed and installed inexpensively by relatively cheap labor.
However, things have changed, and now building codes, permits, and licenses muddy the water. Awning frames have to be thicker, especially for climates with harsher weather, the fabrics have become heavier and higher quality, engineers have to be consulted to determine structural integrity not just for the awning but also for the building its attached to. All of this red tape and regulation, while it is a good thing, has drastically risen the prices of awnings, especially when you consider that the cover may need to be changed in less than a decade. The frame does make up most of the cost, so a recover is considerably expensive, but if you're using a luxury, decorative fabric or a vinyl covering, a recover could still cost thousands of dollars.
Anyways, all this to say tha4 thankfully, not all awnings are fading away. The company i (admittedly just started to) work for has expanded a good deal lately, and we still gave more work than we know what to do with.
What about building in a rigid overhang?
I expect that building lines and lot line setbacks can contribute to the red tape. The commercial awnings shown didn't extend past the front of the building and were quite narrow. A house with a zero lot line on one side might not even be able to install awnings on that side.
Red tape is often not a good thing. How did people survive so long without red tape...
Brennan, might you divulge which company you work for? And if my home (not business) is on 2.5 acres and awnings would not affect anyone else, is there still a lot of red tape involved?
Living on the coast where no one except tourists try to use an umbrella that will be demolished in seconds by the wind, we are very careful about shoddily built or weak framed devices that easily become wind blown projectiles even under normal (for us) wind conditions. Building there is not about holding things up but holding them down. Even unsecured sheets of plywood can become airborne and smash through a window or kill someone.
"A beautiful home which is devoid of awnings, resembles a well-dressed man without a necktie," the addition of the necktie at 04:10 was just brilliant. Also, I installed a retractable shade on my east-facing window a few years back to fight the morning sunshine and I can confirm that this low-tech device really reduced the high temperatures inside my apartment.
They look great as well. Improves the charm and character of a plain building
Hats are the same way. A wide brimmed hat on a hot sunny day helps a lot more than you'd expect.
Even a Trilby like I wear helps considerably.
Some tropical countries use umbrellas instead for sun and rain.
I love my hat when I'm in the hot sun, despite the hair disappointments
@@dbclass4075 technically those are parasols. Not as large but same idea
@@oz_jones Parasols are purpose buillt for sun, though. Since rain can occur suddenly in the tropics, might as well have the umbrella do double duty.
That's basically one of the lectures I got at my 1st year of architecture. Generally we try to use external shading solutions whenever it's possible. The rule of thumb is that the same shade (ie from shutters) inside of the window is worth 30% of the shade outside the window.
That's an eye-opening difference.
I'm thankful that energy efficiency is asserting itself in commercial and multistory residential design -- sheer glass walls look neat, but exterior shading elements can add a lot of visual interest. They can also help ward off bird strikes.
Can you speak to why they've lost popularity?
@@Superiorplatypus Costs money
@@Superiorplatypus I'm not sure if they indeed lost popularity in a global sense. I think it depends on the area and local fashions. In southern Europe (i.e. Greece) they are still very popular. Almost every new residential building there has some sort of an awning system installed. Generally we try to design the windows, their, shape, placement and shading with permanent architectural solutions, whereas add-on awnings often feel like an afterthought (and they usually are). Awnings also often need to be mechanical in some way to adapt to the changes in the external environment. You need to fold/roll/lift them when you want to increase the window's exposure. This means extra complication (especially since they are out in the elements). They can break and need to be serviced, so people are generally a bit reluctant when it comes to installing them.
@@Superiorplatypus I have to imagine it's that the average modern person has no time or inclination to go outside their house and do stuff to it like stand around folding up an awning or pulling down an exterior shade. Neighbors are no longer people you're happy to see. and if you have another story, forget about it. I'm not getting out a ladder for that.
I think a good solution is more windows need to have far more easily removed screens, so that you can reach out from inside and pull an awning or shade down, then replace the screen. None of this "Carefully pinch two parts with your fingers then wiggle it just right" stuff.
This video has left me in awe-ning.
As a young homeowner of a 1950s rancher that has some aluminum awning I have to say you're on point. Shade - check, Keeps water and sun away from your windows - check. The best part though is having your windows open when its raining outside. Cool fresh spring and fall breezes, and listening to the rain hit the metal. It's a poor man's metal roof for falling asleep.
Our 1940s house came without and needed them. Very soon, a neighbor trashed theirs, same size windows we had. So a quick transplant, and life was cool. Moved to a 1980s house that was built with them. This time they were roll up types great for the winter. This third house has no awnings, but huge roof overhangs of about 3 ft. Works like awnings. And winter is not a problem in the north, because the sun sits so low it does get past the roof and into the house. Perfect!
Just don’t replace glass with Low E
Many are tinted “green “ your white walls look green and No beautiful winter heat gain
@@Msmeohmy52 Interesting point. Have not noticed, but HAVE noticed that just plain old uncoated 6mm is much greener than 3mm thick. Have a 3 section window where the narrow side sections were supplied with 3mm because they were smaller area, so look silly beside the green tint huge section. Really noticeable on the opposite white walls.
I have been making and installing custom awnings for a mom and pop shop in oregon for the last 10 years and i am so excited to see you covering awnings! Underappreciated and underutilized.
About the european rolling shutters AKA "persianas" in, they are omnipresent in Spain and provide plenty of benefits. Unlike lightweight aluminium shutters, persianas are chonky PVC boys and they are usually installed outside (often integrated into the window module) and this is important to get the most out of them. They are rolled up in a box above the window and can be operated manually or electrically/domotically.
Contrary to what you may believe, if fully rolled down without leaving the gaps seen in the clip they provide great insulation and thus help keep the interior fresh as the sunlight is being absorbed outside.
They not only block light but also noise, as well as protecting your window against the fury of the elements. Their design allows them to be partially deployed at any height so you can control how much protection they provide. They work great with some stylish window curtains.
Other benefits are privacy and security. A fully unrolled persiana is really hard to force/break open without waking everyone around up. Many break-in attempts have been prevented because of this (I can personally vouch for that, we did once wake up to some guy unsuccessfully trying to lift big chonko up after having climbed into our balcony).
Another good option to reduce heat are solar/UV reduction film you can install on the inside of windows. They reflect most of the solar heat outside while still retaining an unobstructed view of outside. They have an added benefit of giving you privacy during the day since people outside will only see a reflection when trying to look in. I recently had these installed on all my windows and notice a significant difference. I can comfortably sit in direct sunlight in my home and barely feel the heat. They do tint the windows a little bit though, but still allow most light to still come in.
As an HVAC guy thats currently building a new house, we have awnings figured into the equation already. We only have two south facing windows and one west window.the house was purposely laid out on the lot to factor in solar gain on the structure. The south awnings will be designed based on the suns angle when heating starts to be needed but will be covered during the hot summer and high sun position. The west window will have some sort of exterior shutter to clos off after about noon. I was of the same opinion that the best way to deal with solar gain was to simply eliminate it before it ever entered the structure.
LOL shout for the necktie. Bonus points for not acknowledging it in any way. That was the right way to go.
that made me crack up
As someone from the southern hemisphere 1)thanks for remembering it exists.
2 Both sets of my grandparents had awnings. They were wonderful.
The Michigan neighborhood I grew up in (1960s-70s) still had quite a few houses with awnings, and they all had big covered porches. Our houses are slow to lose old characteristics, so most of them only lost awnings due to damage from time or weather or falling trees. My daughter in Canada bought a 1920s house with awnings on the south-facing windows, which are only the kitchen window and the window at the intermediate landing going upstairs. The benefit in the kitchen is obvious, as the sun shining through even the small window over the sink could really add to the amount of heat from the stove that's on the same wall. There were probably awnings on the first floor west-facing windows, until at some point some previous owner had converted the back porch into a sunroom and built a deck off it. (It's kind of neat that they left the original exterior back door as the interior door to the sunroom -- the really old-fashioned wooden door with porcelain handle on the inside, and the kind of window with 9 small panes of glass set into a wooden grill-style frame).
I wish my townhouse had awnings on the south and west-facing windows, because I have to keep the blinds drawn shut even with the AC running, or it gets too steamy in here.
I live in Oklahoma. My home was built by its occupant in 1962. The south exposure has a porch. The west exposure has awnings and a pair of large pecan trees. I’m so blessed.
Pecan is good BBQ wood.
@@SlinkyD And the pecans are good for snacking and cooking.
When we took down an old and ailing tree we quickly learned how much shade it had been providing. We added a covered deep porch across the entire southern face of our house; it provides more shade than the old tree did and the house is cool on the hottest days we are currently experiencing.
If you want even better insulation, close up the porch into a verandah, it provides a nice space in the spring and autumn which is open and light but protected against the cold, in winter it adds a layer to the facade, and in summer the still air is insulation despite the insolation. Even more so if you add rolling exterior shutters (or blinds but that's not as good unless they're highly reflective)
@@Bob-nc5hz Without rolling shutters or further awnings there's again problem with greenhouse effect inside the veranda. Open space on the covered porch has natural ventilation, and the temperature on porch won't noticably rise higher than air temperature anywhere else. If you put any obstructions there that limit the natural airflow, you'll have hot air standing there in sunny weather and that is then against house wall. Not optimal solution.
@@jarivuorinen3878as an option, one could get a bunch of sliding glass doors from habitat for humanity restore or an apartment renovation, and you can leave them open during the summer and close them as the weather cools. We have a "sun room" that was once a deck and was previously renovated to be included into the house, they even cut through the siding and added a louvred vent so the heat and AC reach that space if you choose.
It isn't perfect, and shade cloth blinds/drapes can be almost as good in winter at blocking wind or sun, so there are options, but it all depends on the home and the needs of the owner. Greenhouse effect is important to note, some people in the house seem to think keeping the glass doors closed in summer is better insulation FROM the heat, but I'm pretty sure it just puts more work on the AC, and heats up that room more.
@@Bob-nc5hz You mean like a sunroom?
Smart Move! Porches are under- rated!
Great channel and great topic. I recently installed a patio cover that extends over the majority of the west facing windows of my home. My intent was just to create a larger shaded outdoor grilling space for my backyard... but man, have I already noticed the cooling effect on the rooms on this side of my home this summer!
@18:15 As someone who has roller-shutters on their windows, a couple of thoughts:
(1) The windows themselves are double- (or triple-) glazed. So, if you keep the window closed behind the shutter, it doesn't matter how hot the shutters get or whether there's heat trapped between the shutters and the glass - the shutter and trapped-air is acting as another layer of insulation between you and the outside. It's normally pretty cool inside in this configuration.
(2) If the shutters are part-open (eg. @18:30) and the windows are open behind the shutters, you can set up a nice through-draught. This can be quite nice at night because, if necessary, you can close the shutters fully when you get up so that you're keeping out the heat of the day. (But I guess if you have air-con then you won't be opening windows, so this isn't that useful.)
Was thinking about this video when driving around today and realized: Awnings sure aren't gone on commercial storefronts! I guess that speaks to how effective they are -- if financial considerations loom large it doesn't matter that you don't "need" them with your big A/C units.
On commercial storefronts awnings are also good place to put your branding.
The problem is that a lot of the new buildings where I live have flat minimalist glass awnings... which are completely useless at blocking the sun, until they inevitably slime over with algae and bird poop.
Living in eastern europe (in a fairly small area so my experience is limited) i don't really recall ever seeing awnings.
Maybe i just never looked for them and didn't lock them in my mind, though i know i certainly will now.
There's a south facing window in my room with a balcony over it, but it's annoyingly too high to block really any sunlight for basically the entire morning.
@@stuntmonkey00 Alec did speculate about an awning of low-heat-gain glass, thus letting light through but not heat.
Having a family member who purchased a home in a southern state that is only a few years old, i was shocked at how poorly insulated and designed for keeping the heat out. It was pretty much made with the mindset of "let the ac do all the work." Ducting in exterior walls, virtually no wall insulation, no attic insulation, no attic ventilation, no roof overhang. Just multiple ac systems running... i didn't know a house could be made like that today.
Honestly, looking at US house construction from a European standpoint is shocking no matter where you look. And I'm not trying to be the "matchstick houses"-type commenter here, but I'm serious. On virtually all levels other than the concrete foundation, US building construction is shoddy at best. It's like code regulators, builders and customers simply refuse to learn anything over the years. In Europe you can only build houses that are virtually energy neutral, in the US they just slap a bigger AC unit and heater on the building to keep it comfortable.
Energy prices in the US really need to skyrocket, it's the only way that people actually care about consuming less energy, and thus making everything more efficient. If you can run an AC all day for basically pennies, obviously that's gonna be the preferred choice.
@@timderks5960It makes sense if the electricity producers and house designers are in bed with eachother
Or if you look at housing as a in supply thing that you want to produce as many as possible to sell as possible, because there’s a demand that results in trash being sold
Yeah. I live in New Orleans and the lack of awnings is the least concerning thing about the hoses in the area. Even new construction is often built with only 2x4 in the exterior walls and minimal insulation. The older houses have no insulation at all just sheetrock and cypress siding with nothing in-between, not even plywood. My neighbor's houses (one of which was completely "renovated" just 5 years ago , gutted and everything) have no subfloor. The houses are raised and you can see the ground through the floor board gaps.
It's truly mindboggling how much energy your average American home uses.
Sounds like Northern Virginia, where building contractors are big donors to state and local political campaigns. The housing there is built with cheap materials and unskilled labor - because they can.
Awnings seem to be quite popular in France (where I currently live). Many restaurants, shops and bakeries extend them in summer months to provide shade and cover from rain.
Flats on the other hand universally have metal shutters, which you can close for privacy and... shade in summer. It lets in a fair bit of light without heating up the room. I managed to survive previous summer, as well as this one with temps being as high as 38*C with no AC (but fan is mandatory). They're really neat.
We live in the UK and although not known for blistering temperatures for much of the year, the combo of low-e glass on our south facing sliding doors and full with awning, makes a massive difference to comfort during the summer even without AC
I love the awnings on my little 50s house. People have told ne to get rid of them to "update" my homes look. But I love the shade and bring able to have the windows open during rain. And the noise of raindrops falling on the aluminum awnings is so soothing.
facts
Paint them if they dont look modern enough. Little updating but you get to keep em
are these "people" willing to help with their ideas. everyone has an opinion until actually work and planning start.
@2:05
Funfact: "Insulation" and "Insolation" have completely different etymologies.
"Insulation" comes from the Late Latin word "Insulatus", meaning "Made like an Island", which itself comes the word "Insula" meaning "Island" (also the origin of "Isle" and "Isolated")
"Insolation", on the other hand, comes from the Latin verb "Insolare", meaning "To expose to the sun".
_Inflammable means flammable? What a country!_ - Dr. Nick
I knew that
@@mgancarzjr The word "inflammable" means capable of being inflamed, but many people thought it meant "not flammable," so safety and government authorities eventually standardized on "flammable" for such warnings.
Insolare = to "solarize" (something), by putting it "in the sun".
Cool 🤩👍🫶
I've been to Greece recently on a short vacation. EVERY SINGLE apartment had awnings!! Every single one. I came home and I decided to get some awnings 😊
You nailed the length and density of this video. All killer no filler. Earning every minute of that revenue. It is appreciated.
Also bonus points for Voltron!
I'm glad I'm not crazy when it comes to this topic! A friend of mine recently moved out to where I live (A suburb of Phoenix), and his apartment stays way, way cooler than my house despite them both being built within the last 4 years. The main difference I've noticed is every single outward facing window on his apartment has an awning. Awnings on homes out here, at least newer homes, is basically unheard of, but I really think they should be more common.
EU here. Rolling shutters are very normal around here indeed. They insulate pretty well. On hot days with no AC, they do keep the house cool. However, there are a few downsides. Larger windows require huge shutters, which require a lot of force to pull up. Usually they are electric, but that increases the installation cost.
But most of all: they’re depressing! On hotter days you basically turn your house into a bunker.
I think that’s why on new houses outdoor rolling screens are winning against rolling shutters. You can still see the outside when they’re down, but they block most of the sunlight…
When I visited my Aunt in Europe she pointed out every awning we passed. And constantly said they were excellent. During those 'hot' August days with no AC they made a difference. Though I personally never felt hot coming from the humid insanity that is the US east coast.
Yes, I had an apartment with big windows on the kitchen side which faced the rising sun - so you could have the choice of a sunny breakfast or keep the shutters closed (no more view of the car park, just blank shutters). Keeping the shutters down all morning made a tremendous difference to the temperature in the apartment in the afternoon.
Always wondered why these were so popular in Europe! It really stumped me on a few trips to places that didn't seem to need storm shutters or security shutters, which are typically the only metal shutters in the US.
In some suburbs in Australia where I live it is common to have both. Awnings for when you are home, shutters for when you are out/night.
I’m glad somebody said it! I find it super depressing to sit in a dark room in the middle of the day.
Came for the awnings, stayed for neutering the HOA. I’m in Baltimore, where there are still tons of adorable awnings all around. This video was super fun.
In trades school, HVAC, awnings are described as a good way to stop the sun from coming into your home. We learned this in calculating heat loads of a structure, volume of house size of Windows, how far eaves stuck out from the house etc. The instructor said they're super ugly lol. However I do wish I could get some for the summer.
I showed this video to my husband, and he's sold. We're getting awnings.
Don't forget to come back and edit your comment with a short report on your experiences!
Traditional homes in Portugal have wood shutters. Little rows of wood are placed at an angle that allows for some light in the day when they are closed. They also allow wind in if you don't close the window glass. At night, they would help to keep the room dark. If it was a warm night, we could leave the glass open to let in the cooler night air.
I miss these. Especially in warm summer nights.
We have these in the American South, too, though they aren’t on new homes. Here people call them colonial-style hurricane shutters
These are still everywhere on homes built before the 70s in New Jersey.
Any other 90s kids remember the infomercial for “The Sunsetter Awning”? 😃
Love videos like these because it always boggles my mind how humanity forgets about very simple and rather effective technologies. There's almost no reason modern housing couldn't be equipped with these, especially considering AC use stresses the grid and apparently even makes the outside temperature hotter. (All that heat has to go somewhere.)
my great aunt use to have huge awnings over all her windows, and they made summertime so much cooler, and it was always a joy to look out the windows in summertime because it was looking through a cool porch no matter which window looking out. sooooo cooool. I enjoyed looking through them and the rooms never seemed the least bit dark. You don't need DIRECT sunlight beaming into a room to make it seem bright and airy!
EE consultant and energy modeler here - we do have overhang and exterior shading as part of the modeling prototype, but you're correct that they aren't being looked at by most EE programs. Your introduction essentially spelled out why - people consider awnings outdated and have little to no interest. Utilities don't want to invest rate payer money into program options that can't get traction, and neither the builders nor the public are likely to embrace code requirements for something seen as an aesthetic choice - no matter how functional it might be.
And a home with a half decent thermal envelope might see 300-400 kWh savings over a year, which at most power rates in the country means 15-20 years to pay back your investment on even a small $1,000 awning investment. (And of course that's for cheap self install ones, things like the motorized roller models are several times that, but don't save any more energy...)
Yep, and shade tree programs are more popular.
had one extendable in my last rental apartment. Never really used it. Cannot leave it extended due to weather.
external shutters seem the way to go in my view. Also block out the sun during hot days, among other things. And they don't break due to UV radiation or when there's a bit of wind.
Awnings are great! It's just I can't find any modern ones that aren't trash. They're usually poor materials or just plain ugly. It stinks. I want some nice looking modern options.
The motorized rollers provide an excellent opportunity to save additional energy actually, because system can be used way more consistently. My parents have a system installed that automatically extends & lowers the sun screens when there is a lot a incoming sun, but automatically raises them when the wind conditions require that to protect them (among some other variables, and a manual override is available). This makes them much more useful, you can leave them down/extended even when you leave the house and when you are not there, they will still work. It's also that much more convenient that you use them a lot more than if you have to drop and extend each one individually.
That makes sense. Whenever somebody asks, "Why don't we do X?", the answer is usually "because X is expensive."
“Sunsetter Retractable Awnings” kept replaying in my head for the whole video so I’m glad he validated by saying “that one infomercial”
"I just work here" - Comedy gold moment that reminds me how much I'd love to support your patreon if I had the money (:
European here about the shutters, yes they can get very hot on the outside but on the inside part they are noticeably cooler and the window glass itself is waaaaay cooler to the touch
I think they key detail Alec doesn't know, is that most Rolladen elements are hollow, like crushed tubes and offer decent insulation on their own
@@pascal6871 also available in different materials, higher grade ones are usually made of aluminium/metal
@@pascal6871 they also allow air to flow, so that there's not really an accumulation of heat.
yeah tested it myself the aluminum frame of the window is much cooler behind the shutter than it would be when exposed to direct sunlight
@@rafaelvarga8185 Hang on, you say there are Rolläden not made from metal?
As an architect into passive design, I love this video. I convinced our landlords to get us awnings by showing how hot it got by our south facing windows.
I love passive design.
Do you know of an online calculator that will tell me the correct size of awning for my window size based on my latitude?
You’re an architect and you have a landlord😮
If the awning is retractable, wouldn’t that make it active design?
@@saladsalad9991 it's a special kind of hell
@@craigstephenson7676 generally we use passive design for anything that's not, like, HVAC, because even if it's a powered awning it uses way less power than HVAC.
You still see this all over Europe, as well as metal rolling shutters (known as Rolladen in Germany). I love how the awnings look, and they really do work very well.
While you are thinking about how to get Home Owner Associations to agree to awnings being installed, you might also want to look at the benefits of traffic calming measures in suburbs, that involve planting rows of trees along both sides of a road.
Trees provide shade for pavements (sidewalks) during the summer and then drop their leaves in the winter, allowing more sunlight through. If you design the street to cool the houses on the sunward side, the awnings would be more effective. (Plus you get the benefit of trees slowing down drivers and acting as a barrier that stops cars mounting the pavement.)
Portuguese Architecture imported to Brazil left us with porches all around, awnings, clay tiles for roof, and 15 inch-thick walls are used on the places where awnings are not possible.
A proper "Varandão home" can leave windows open even in the most fierce storms, and the heat absorbed by the thick walls comes out after dark, keeping the temperature balanced for the entire 24 hours period.
It always makes me smile when a fellow Brit that recently purchased a house in southern France tells me that they’ve removed all the shutters from doors and windows and have carried out a loft conversion as I know when I meet them again after their first summer, they’ll be whinging about how hot their house it.
on the other hand, I (non-Brit) have to acknowledge that with the weather they had to put up for most of their lives, it's understandable that the instinct to overcompensate is "baked in" (for a tangible lack of a better word)
I moved to Japan and went through the first summer going "I don't need to turn the AC on! We don't have it at home and it's fine there!", through gritted teeth as sweat literally dripped down my back
@@michaelmartin9022 Ah, the humid summer, fun times of you are gonna be a ball of sweat even if you are in shade.
@@michaelmartin9022 It's bad for your house too. In very humid climates, you either run the AC at least sometimes or spend all summer cleaning mold off the walls and ceiling.
The sound of rain on the metal awnings at night.... a cool petrichor scent wafting through thin metal blinds, as the pull-string ends tap gently in the rain-driven breeze.... Midwestern memories.
I love this!
I live in a good old early 1950s house, and one of my goals going forward is to make my house 'peak 1950s' while adding the best of modern tech.
When I bought my house, it still had the front porch aluminum tan and brown awning... and man... it looked rough. But a day with a wire brush and some white rustoleum spray paint, and man... it looked pretty classy! This is what sold me on the idea of doing some sort of 'modern 1950s' something to my house.
What I don't like about awnings is that you can't look up and out of the window. 1950s midwest homes have thick walls and small windows, so natural lighting is already limited, and being forced to keep the drapes closed, or an opaque awning that blocks most of the view out and light in seems less than ideal. I would like to find something that is easily removeable during the winter months, but some sort of low-e material, or tinting, or auto-retracting fabric during the spring through fall. And I really want something that still captures that 1950s style... but with a modern color pallette that isn't tan and brown, or avacado green, or the other awful 1040s-1070s colors that most 1950s homes sport that havent attempted to look 'modern' (ie 90's) style yet.
But yeah... its sad to see all of these 1950s homes trying to compete in the market of looking newer. They just aren't new homes, and a lot of the style choices of modern homes just aren't practical on old homes and just make the house less efficient, require more maintenance, or just less comfortable to live in. I'd rather stop pretending and just lean into the aesthetic and systems the house was built for, but give it some modern convienences and colors. Lean into what it is... but make it the rose colored glasses ideal of the past that just wasnt practical or possible in the past.
From the UK
Window Awnings are very uncommon here, and so is air conditioning for homes. During the summer heat waves, we are required to suffer
Our heatwaves last about a week.
Can you craft your own? Or buy prebuilt kits and install them?
That's because y'all are actually ridiculously far north! Seriously. London is the same latitude as Winnipeg. That's in Canada! Canada! Y'all real north up there. Plus, ofc y'all don't have ac.
In the US, the Sun Belt would have never been possible without ac. Since we had ac and dependency on fossil fuels and climate change was a problem for another generation, we didn't bother with awnings. I live in South Texas and spend quite some time in Phoenix, awnings should be common sense. Curtains and reflective window screens aren't enough. Awnings! Let's all start a revolution for awnings!
Even in UK high street shops used to have awnings over their windows.
@@kellyngrey4950 Sure we are as north as Canada but that doesn't mean we have the same climate as canada.
You also seem to overlook that the more north you go the longer the days are. Currently sun sets at 21:30 and rises at 5:00 meaning our houses get a 16 hours of sunlight in summer.
Our houses are also on average way older and made with brick and mortar to keep heat in and sustained heatwaves just weren't such a regular thing in the past.
Greetings from northern Europe. My uncle build a new home in the last decade and they had automatic awnings installed. They roll out when it's sunny, but also can be rolled out to cover the porch from rain. If it's too windy, the awnings roll automatically in so they don't get torn.
•differentiates two identical spoken words•
“Don’t look at me, I just work here”
That made me tear up a bit lol
That windows joke at the start was better timed than you could’ve possibly known
Haha! so well observed. I had to go back and see the video was released right before the Crowd Strike outage
@@Peace2920 To be fair it's not the fault of Windows.
"We like windows"
Me, in my room with the curtains drawn at all times - "Must hide from the hated flame orb..."
my feelings exactly....who LIKES dat....when i want sun , i leave the house 4 a walk
The dreaded day star.
I don't have one of those rolling outside shutters, but been in several houses that do.
I think some of the largest appeals are
1. Many are "smart" so you can program them, and remotely change them.
2. They are absolutely the most effective black out curtains, perfect for a bedroom.
3. They don't really get that hot in my experience, and I find many people close them while switching on the airconditioning, to cool the house down very quickly.
You had me at “you ever reach back in your brain” you instantly had a new subscriber and my parents Ranch home still has awnings
Do keep in mind, many homes used to be designed with an east half and a west half. As the sun rises, spend time in the west half, and as the day goes on, spend your day in the East half with an awning, warm, but totally shaded. It's an old method, but worked VERY well at my grandfather's home. And it got up to 125 on some summer days!
It could be cooking 120 on the west side of the house, turning that part into an actual oven approaching 150. The east side with open doors and windows but closed screens allowed that side to stay at about 85. Very livable and doable and pleasant. Having many fruit trees in the yard allowed for berry bushes and grapes.
Old techniques are so simple, yet so deliberate.
In Los Angeles (and other US cities that were founded by Spanish colonists) there are no east-half and west-half, because the streets aren’t N/S-E/W grid. Instead, they are built at 45°, giving everyone a shady side as they travel. Trees were also mandated by the Spanish government.
Are you a bot? There are very few places in the world where temperatures of 125 or above are regularly recorded as a normal summer temperature. I've never heard of a house space that wasn't an attic going to 150. Either you're talking out of your ass or this comment was generated by an AI which imitates the style of the comments it trains on but often gets the actual details of what is being discussed wrong, or it exaggerates those details.
@@jazzmusiccontinues1134 I think a bigger indicator would be the grammar, very few real people have such composed RUclips comments lmao.
@@jazzmusiccontinues1134 Or he's an ammonium lifeform and talking in kelvin. Or he's talking about the coolest summer day in Arizona or Texas.
@@jazzmusiccontinues1134 his account started in 2015, so before AI
Nice touch with the “well dressed man” having a tie @4:13. Didn’t go unnoticed.
I worked in an office that had a retractable awning, powered by an indoor wall switch that covered the enormous picture window by the main entrance. We could retract it when we needed more light in the lobby or to avoid snow collecting in the winter. It was brilliant! I’ve never seen anything like it before or since. If I were building a new house, I would absolutely put these on some or all windows.
As an Arizonan with a west facing window to my home office, I can tell you that an awning would be an absolute godsend and I don't know for the life of me why they're not a thing. I'll bet my HOA wouldn't approve it though.
I'm canadian and never heard of HOAs before a few days ago. What a weird thing. You should be free to put Awnings over your windows, door, mailbox, anything, if you want.
Completely agree. For the land of the free we have far too much bullshit. I live in the southern Appalachian range so we have no regulation here, and I just cant understand living in a HOA area.
Thanks god Brasil don't have HOAs
There's a reason HOA communities have higher property values. People want to live in HOAs because they are maintained and regulated. Most older neighborhoods in the US without HOAs look like absolute garbage.
@@OtisFlint no
@@OtisFlintAh, the classic "housing is an investment first and need second." And people wonder why young people aren't able to afford homes.
My house still has it's original 1940's awnings. We kept em because Kansas tends to have hail 3 to 6 times a year on average. The Awning protect the windows as well as provide shade since they're full metal. Full of dents too.
Each dent is one saved pane of glass.
@@Jablicek No? Not every hailstone is guaranteed to hit and break a window.
@@choo_choo_ if it caused a dent, it's gonna damage the window
@@Lord_Maraptor This was my thinking. The dents show it's protecting the glass.
@@Lord_Maraptor If it doesn't hit the window, it doesn't hit the window.