What Is the Benefit of Having a Patio Cover?

The shade offered by patio covers and patio awnings provides several benefits, including temperature control, UV protection and reduced furniture sun damage. A good patio cover makes your patio usable for more of the year, which is itself a huge benefit in Phoenix.

Patios with no sun cover or shade canopy, depending on where it’s located on your home, might only be comfortably usable for six or seven months a year. With a high-quality patio cover you can probably increase that to nine or 10 months a year, especially if the patio also has optimal airflow or some other type of cooling or air circulation (ceiling fans, evaporative coolers, misters, etc.).

Patio Shade Options for Valley Homeowners and Businesses

The ideal patio awning or shade solution for your home or business depends on where your patio is located, the total space you want shaded and the style of patio cover you like the most.

Retractable awnings and regular static patio awnings are often great options for patios that are right next to your home’s patio door. Most retractable awnings can stretch between five and 10 feet.

For larger patios or tiled areas that expand out from the house, like those around pools, barbeques or sitting areas, shade structures are often an ideal solution. These structures generally consist of three to four posts that have fabric stretched between them. The fabric style and the specific dimensions and height of the sail determines the amount of shade and temperature control provided.

Shade sails don’t necessarily have to be on three or four posts. We’ve installed shade sails connected to homes to extend the shaded area and significantly improve temperature control in and around the home. You can also install a shade sail-style structure over a pool and drastically drop the water temperature overall. Shade structures built over pools blocks the UV rays the water would absorb during the hottest part of the day, which decreases the water temperature all day and night.

Many homes in Phoenix already have covered patios, but they might be open on two or three sides, which can still let in a lot of sun that significantly increases the temperature in the afternoon when you’d be most likely to use it. Installing rolled shade screens on the west- or south-facing side that’s getting the majority of the sun can result in a drastic drop in patio temperature.

Blocking that much sun from hitting your home will also significantly decrease the amount of heat being absorbed into those exterior walls of your home, resulting in lower temperatures in those rooms and reduced utility costs.

Change the Way You Use Your Outdoor Spaces

In the Phoenix area, temperature control plays a significant role in how you’re able to use your home, both its indoor and outdoor spaces. Between June and September there’s not a whole lot you can do on a patio that’s exposed to direct sunlight for most of the day. When that same space has shade cover for 80 percent of the day it becomes much more accessible, even during warmer months.

The same goes for other parts of your backyard, including your pool, grassy areas or other paved spaces. A good patio covering, shade canopy or shade sail solution lets you reclaim your backyard from the summer rays.

Learn About Your Shade Options for Your Phoenix Home or Business

Whether your property and outdoor areas are better served by a shade sail, a more traditional patio cover or a retractable awning depends on the layout of your space and your budget.

Browse through our galleries and get familiar with some of our past projects if you’re looking for patio awning ideas. One of the benefits of working with Arizona Awnings is our decades of experience and breadth of potential options. You can rest assured that our team can develop a shade solution that’s in your price range and provides the kind of temperature control you want in your outdoor spaces.



Give us a call at 602-252-3430 to schedule a free estimate or to learn more about our products and services.