Follow PatioHeatandShade on Social Media
Here at Patio Heat and Shade we relish this time of year, when we can host our family and friends to savory cookouts and long conversations with a cold drink in hand, savoring the sun’s rays as they kick our Vitamin D factory into overdrive. When the sun gets a little too aggressive, we turn to shade to help keep our cool (cooling both our bodies and our hot headedness) … and for good reason.
Simply adding a canopy over your summer festivities can protect your guests from 98% of the sun’s UV rays, keeping their precious skin safe for hours of outdoor fun. Shading your patio also stops the sun from heating up your patio deck, furniture and other items surrounding you, lowering the temperature on your deck or patio by up to 20°F.
Another unsung benefit of adding a canopy to your patio is that it blocks harmful UV rays from coming indoors… which means your “indoors” doesn’t heat up as much… which means lower energy bills by not running the AC as hard as you would with an unprotected patio.
When the dog days of summer have you wistful for a more tepid time of year, our fellow outdoor lovers turn to us to help them find respite on sweltering summer days. Lucky for our customers, we have been hard at work making sure that our patio experts are the best in the business… and we turned to them to ask for some of their favorite outdoor canopy ideas for summer. When looking at each one, think about how the idea of that canopy would work in your own private outdoor oasis – which would be the best fit for your active family.
Fun Fact: The dog days of summer are from July 3 to August 11 of each year, named for the unusual brightness during this time of the “dog star” Sirius as it made the nose of the constellation Canis Major, or the Greater Dog.
Retractable awnings, the magicians of the patio, are there when you need them and disappear when you don’t. Shading you from both harmful UV rays and unexpected raindrops, the Advaning Slim-Gray Series MA1410-A108NG manual retractable awning has a unique Easy Pitch system that is the simplest and most convenient way to adjust the canopy’s pitch angle.
You deserve the best, and the Advaning Luxury Series EA1410-A447H2 retractable awning delivers a premium retractable awning in every way possible. Available with an electric or manual mechanism, the canopy materials and frame have a quality that is second to none and is a 100% pre-assembled kit ready to be attached to your home. Choose your own adventure: remove the valance for a cleaner, more modern look or leave it attached to complement your traditional aesthetic.
Outdoor Canopy & Shade Sail FAQs
We’ve frequently found inspiration for creative uses of shade from our customers and hope that we have provided you with a little of that inspiration magic with these outdoor canopy ideas fresh from the minds of our patio experts.
Here at Patio Heat and Shade, keeping your family and guests comfortable is our specialty – and the addition of an outdoor canopy is one of the best ways of cooling not only the people you care about, but the entire area by as much as 30°.
When you’re considering which solution may fit in with your plans, you don’t have to go it alone. Our patio experts are right here, willing, and ready to help you make your outdoor patio a true outdoor oasis. We’re here for you – just give us a call, we promise to treat you like family.
Shade sails are simply brilliant: Mount a bright colored canopy at the corners to your existing structure or poles and you can shade an outdoor area effectively and inexpensively. Mount the Coolaroo Coolhaven 473822 shade sail (with the pre-attached metal rings) at a slight slope to channel unexpected rain showers away from your guests. Blocking up to 95% of the UV light, the high-density polyethylene (HDPE) fabric reduces temperatures underneath by as much as 40%.
Adding a pop of color with a commercial grade shade sail transforms your outdoor patio into a dynamic, eye-catching relaxation zone. Made in the USA, the Custom Shade Sails CSS12SQ-SS commercial grade shade sail uses the highest quality materials, including marine grade type 316 stainless steel corner rings and double row locking stitching to create a patio shade that is as durable as it is gorgeous. As a bonus, this shade sale comes with mounting hardware!
The little ones in your family absolutely LOVE to play in the pool… but there’s a constant struggle to keep their skin from baking in the sun (SPF 2000 anyone?). Mounting the Custom Shade Sails CSS10RT-SS right triangle commercial grade shade sail over your pool will allow them to pretend to be dolphins for hours without the direct UV sunlight that is so damaging to their skin (remember to still use sunblock; reflected UV light may still reach your little ones). American made quality goes into every one of these shade sails, including your choice of Polytex or WeatherMax canopy materials in a wide array of colors.
Pergolas are fantastic for blocking out some of the sun’s harmful UV rays… but there are times you need the added protection of a canopy to keep your family comfy and safe. Mounting the Custom Shade Sails CSS12-16REC-SS rectangular commercial grade shade sail is super-easy here because you already have the structure in place (and the shade sail comes with the mounting hardware in the box). Made in America, you can select from a breathable (read: water permeable) fabric in 16 colors, or a high-tech waterproof fabric (hang at a 20° slope for water runoff) in 7 colors to make your outdoor oasis pop.
Create the ultimate outdoor luxury space for entertaining or relaxing with the construction of a permanent structure away from your home. Providing additional seclusion when wanted, the Bambrella Alize Bamboo Pavilion is available with or without privacy side curtains. With a frame constructed of eco-friendly bamboo and stainless-steel metal fittings, once mounted to your floor or ground the Alize withstands winds of up to 78 mph!
Nope. A pergola is a (mostly) permanent structure that is an arrangement of vertical pillars or posts that support beams or a sturdy open lattice. Frequently made of wood, a pergola typically has a slatted “roof” to allow partial sunlight through at all times. A canopy, on the other hand, is a fabric-based shade that stretches, either over a temporary frame (like poles) or attached to more permanent structures like houses.
To anchor your canopy on concrete (without permanent concrete bolts) we would suggest one or more of the following: Purchase tent weight bags (typically then filled with sand), use cinder blocks (typically about 28 lbs.) either on your poles or attached with a strong rope to the canopy structure, or create a DIY solution with anything heavy you have around the house… weights from a sadly neglected weight lifting set, buckets filled with sand or gravel (water will work if your canopy is light), or fill your bucket with concrete for a more permanent weight solution.
Yes, kind of. Maintaining your shade sail correctly should allow you to keep it up year-round, unless you are expecting a ridiculously bad storm. If you decide to take our shade sail down, make sure it’s TOTALLY dry before you pack it away or the resulting mold/mildew can make getting your shade sail back in shape a nightmare.
Generally speaking, no. The best installation for a shade sail is to have 2 high points (diagonally opposite each other) for a 4-cornered shade sail, and one high point for a triangular one to help channel rainwater.
When creating your shade sail slope, aim for 15° as the optimum slope. This creates a rise to run ratio of 1/3.75, perfect for a patio.