If you are reading this hub then you are probably wondering how motorized retractable awnings work. This is a normal thing to wonder, especially if you are thinking of buying one of these items for your patio or if you already have one and are amazed by their shade providing efficiency. Well, you have come to the right place because I am going to give you some information about exactly that. It is not going to be in depth information, but it is going to be enough to give you a good idea about how these things work.

But before we get into all that, I think looking at exactly why these devices are so cool and what makes these devices what they are is in order. A motorized retractable awning is exactly what the name says, it is:

• Motorized - A small motor inside the awning casing is the mechanism that actually deploys and retracts your awning. You don't need to turn any crank or spin any lever yourself. Instead you just push a button and then all of a sudden the motor inside the awning begins to spin, either deploying your awning to give you shade on your patio or retracting your awning to let the sun shine it. This makes it great for people who don't want to or are unable to work a regular retractable awning crank.
  
• Retractable - When an awning is retractable it means that you can move it in and out. When you want the sun shining through your windows or on your patio or deck then all you need to do is retract the awning and store it inside its casing which is attached to the side of your house. Then, when you want the shade, you simply deploy it and you have instant shade. Being able to control when you get sun and when you get shade is a big plus for home owners trying to conserve energy while at the same time creating a livable outside space on their deck or patio.
  
• Awning - Shade can really help bring down the temperature in an area, and awnings can provide that shade. Most awnings attach to an exterior wall of your house so that they can keep the hot summer sun off windows or off of an outdoor living space such as a deck of patio. There are many different types of awnings - from aluminum to wood to fabric - but you are generally only going to have a motorized retractable awning be made of some sort of fabric, usually a synthetic fabric or canvas.
  

Now that we have a better understanding of what it means to be Motorized, Retractable, and an Awning we should take a look at how these devices actually work. And when we do, we will find that they are pretty simple mechanical devices. They are not overly complex and they are actually very intuitive device.

So this is how the awning works:

1. The user tells the awning that it wants it to begin moving. The user can do this by either using the remote that came with their awning or they push a button located on the awning itself. If the awning is already deployed the message send to the awning will be for it to move to the closed position. If the awning is in the closed position the message sent tot he awning will be fore it to move into the open/deployed position.
2. The motor in the casing begins to spin. This spinning is in the direction that the awning needs to move. The movement to deploy the motorized awning is one way to open it and the opposite way to close it. The spinning is generally pretty quiet as there is a lot of knowledge about how to make a quiet motor.
3. If the awning is being opened you might have to deploy some support arms that help the awning support its own weight. In some case the awning will do this by itself and in other cases the awning is not going to need these supporting arms. It really depends on the type of awning that you bought and how heavy it is and how big it is. The bigger the awning the more likely it is that it will need some type of supporting arms.

And that is it! Motorized retractable patio awnings are really quite simple.