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Why don't we use awnings anymore (2022)

(thecraftsmanblog.com)
413 points samclemens | 9 comments | 15 Oct 24 22:11 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
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pistoleer ◴[16 Oct 24 07:10 UTC] No.41856374[source]▶
It surprises me to read about "fixed metal frame" awnings. You don't _have_ to make that trade off.

In the Netherlands a lot of houses have electrically retractable awnings (or even just mechanically windable by hand), especially above the giant windows facing the back yard.

During winter and bad weather, we retract the awning. When it's too sunny, we deploy it.

typical row house layout with big windows on both sides: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doorzonwoning

retractable awning: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zonnescherm

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dumbo-octopus ◴[16 Oct 24 07:55 UTC] No.41856655[source]▶
We have them in america too. But every moving part comes with inflated costs for both acquisition and ongoing maintenance.
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pistoleer ◴[16 Oct 24 08:00 UTC] No.41856685[source]▶
In the Netherlands it costs around a grand, as for maintenance... Haven't needed to do any in more than 15 years. The actual screen retracts into a weather proof metal casing, so there's not that much that goes wrong, whereas fixed awnings are exposed to the full weather gamut 24/7.

Let me put it this way: it's cheap enough that a lot of social housing and other cheap forms of housing inhabited by the "lower class" feature them.

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dumbo-octopus ◴[16 Oct 24 08:14 UTC] No.41856747[source]▶
A government paying for a thing does not in any way imply that the thing is a good use of money. How many decades of fabric replacements could you get from the savings of bolting on a simple metal frame as compared to an elaborate electromechanically actuated arm mechanism?
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1. Etheryte ◴[16 Oct 24 08:55 UTC] No.41856997[source]▶
This is such a silly argument. A movable awning isn't some complex apparatus, it's literally a hinge and two sticks. You're trying to frame this as some kind of an expensive problem when it really isn't.
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2. dumbo-octopus ◴[16 Oct 24 08:57 UTC] No.41857009[source]▶
You forgot the actuator.
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3. skrebbel ◴[16 Oct 24 09:13 UTC] No.41857078[source]▶
It's a stick with a handle that you turn
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4. dumbo-octopus ◴[16 Oct 24 09:25 UTC] No.41857146{3}[source]▶
Connected to a gear that needs oil, a chain that needs oil and can rust, or a rope that withers. Being overly dismissive of failure modes isn’t a good look. I don’t claim that fixed awnings are God’s gift to humanity, just that they don’t have some of the drawbacks associated with moving parts. The amount of emotional reaction I’ve received to that completely factual statement is frankly ridiculous.
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5. Etheryte ◴[16 Oct 24 09:31 UTC] No.41857176{4}[source]▶
You're overlooking the fact that these are incredibly common in the Netherlands, yet the massive problems you describe are nowhere to be found. Most people get away with giving them some love maybe every few years when they get creaky, if even that. Your argument is about as reasonable as saying we shouldn't have door hinges or door locks because moving parts have drawbacks. It's silly, these systems are so simple that they require next to no upkeep for years at a time.
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6. dumbo-octopus ◴[16 Oct 24 09:35 UTC] No.41857189{5}[source]▶
Indeed we shouldn’t have hinges or locks because moving parts have drawbacks, in contexts where that matters. For instance portals that don’t need a door at all, or walls that don’t need to open. Would you argue that every open passageway should have a door blocking it, and every wall should have hinges installed? No, that’s ridiculous. It’s equally ridiculous to get this angry about the simple fact that fixed awnings have upsides, and depending on the context they might be a better choice than retractable ones.
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7. Etheryte ◴[16 Oct 24 09:48 UTC] No.41857270{6}[source]▶
Touch grass my dude. You're trying to make the argument that hinges are bad and then calling other people angry over the internet.
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8. dumbo-octopus ◴[16 Oct 24 09:54 UTC] No.41857309{7}[source]▶
All I said is moving parts have drawbacks. That’s true. Then a million people kept on the thread to try to claim otherwise, yourself included. Now you’re resorting to 4chan style comebacks, so that’s fun.
9. martijnvds ◴[16 Oct 24 12:27 UTC] No.41858291{7}[source]▶
You could call it the very definition of "un-hinged". :)