Reliability
Contrary to popular belief, motors are actually more reliable and will probably last longer than manual gears with virtually no servicing. It is rare that we see a motor fail - and the one or two times per year that it does - it's usually because the unit is defective and it will fail immediately upon installation.

Installation Options

Motors for patio awnings can be wired 2 different ways - either hard-wired into your home wiring system and operated via wall switch or remote - or simply plugged into a convenient outdoor outlet and operated via remote. Rollshutters & window awnings are generally hard-wired into the home system - rollshutters as they're often used for security and window awnings as windows can be located all over the house - upper floors and lower - and it's fairly unsightly and unmanageable having multiple wires running down your walls and plugged into outlets.

Power Consumption

Depending on the size of unit being operated, the motors will draw between 1.8 - 2 amps. Also keep in mind that it is not a constant draw - only when the motor is running.

Automation Options

Automated systems include wind sensors and combination sun and wind sensors. The wind sensor operates with a small animometer that calculates wind speed and will sense if the wind goes above a certain set limit and roll in the awning. A sun and wind sensor will roll out the awning(s) when the sun hits the automated sensor and will roll in the awning(s) when the sun's intensity goes below a certain level (sundown). The wind sensor will override the sun function so that if the wind rises above the set limit, the awning will automatically roll in.
There is a built-in delay of 15 minutes during the wind rolling in the awning and the sun rolling it back out again - to keep the unit from constantly rolling in and out thereby saving the motor from burn-out.

Please keep in mind that the automated wind sensing system is meant only as a last resort backup. It is not to be used in place of the customers own good judgement and observation. Certain conditions can arise where the awning is not rolled in soon enough (or at all) resulting in damage to the awning. Patio awnings in particular should not be left fully extended while unsupervised.

All of our motorized systems can be operated singly or via a group controlled system. This will allow versatility in operation - sometimes necessary when units are located in different rooms.
As well, all of our motorized systems can be controlled with your integrated home electronic systems - usually operated with a computer. Systems such as this work well with rollshutters as they can be programmed to open and close while you're away to give the visual appearance of occupancy when you're away from home.