Purchasing Guide for Caravan Awnings
A caravan awning: what is it?
It may seem absurd, but this is an often asked question: an awning is made specifically to suit the side of a caravan. It works with the caravan to provide extra, adaptable space, much like a conservatory or addition would with a house.
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With its versatility, caravan awnings have evolved into a necessary addition to the vehicle. However, we have attempted to simplify the process because buying an awning might be confusing.
Establish a Budget
Determine if you need a residential or traveling awning.
Decide if you need an A to B fitting or a porch for your caravan awning.
Air Awning or Poled?
The supplementary living area of the caravan will be improved by adding an awning, which may be a difficult but rewarding work to attach to the side.
The first step is deciding the type to buy; there are two main options: touring and residential awnings.
Comparing Residential and Touring
Awnings for caravans come in two primary styles: touring and residential. Buying the appropriate one for the intended use is crucial.
Traveling Awnings:
A Touring Awning is ideal for temporary pitches and, as the name implies, for vacations that include traveling from place to place. For instance, one or two week vacations at a time. To achieve the goal of making the awning lightweight and movable, this style employs lighter materials and components. Usually made using textiles such as Taslan, Tencate, or Polyester.
** This kind of awning should not be left up on residential pitches for extended periods of time; instead, it should be utilized for brief camping excursions. Using a touring awning on a long-term pitch will void the guarantee since the fabric is not meant for prolonged usage and may deteriorate due to UV rays.
Seasonal awnings, also referred to as residential awnings
Caravan owners who have a seasonal plot at a campground where their caravan is parked for extended periods of time should consider installing residential awnings. An awning for a home is made to be erected for extended periods of time. They are made of stronger materials and textiles and are often heavier. Because of this, it won’t experience UV deterioration to the same extent as a touring awning and will endure over time in all types of weather. They should only need to be taken out of the car during a severe weather alert that poses a risk to ephemeral buildings, like gale-force winds.
Caravan Awning Types
There are several awning styles available, so it’s critical to select the one that best suits your caravan and your needs in general.
Awnings for Porches
Porch awnings give a little living area and shelter from the weather. They are usually smaller and made for traveling.
To correctly suit this design, which spans the roof rail area in the C Channel, a specific quantity of straight channel must be used. For instance, if the awning was 250 cm in width, it would have 280 cm of Kador Rail and would align with the caravan’s roof panel, as seen in the picture below.
Generally, because of the fitting’s versatility—which eliminates the need for producers to produce many sizes of the same product—this design has grown in popularity.
Usually, steel poles or some other type of bracing mechanism are used to adequately support the awning against the caravan in order to ensure that the awning sides are flat with the caravan.
Complete Awnings (A-B Fit Style)
Awnings with A to B fittings will suit the caravan from the bottom left to the bottom right, completely sealing the awning to the caravan with the Kador Rail. This kind of awning is usually available in a variety of sizes, so to make sure you get the right one, you will need to know the caravan’s A to B dimension.
Structure Types
Awnings that are poled
The industry is moving away from poled caravan awnings in favor of air-based models, which are simpler to inflate and require less effort overall. Though it is shrinking, there is still a market for framed pole awnings. One benefit of a poled awning is that it may be divided into sections so that the weight and mobility are easier to handle. These days, the only manufacturers of pole awnings that are accessible are more established ones like Bradcot.
Awnings for Air
Air caravan awnings have completely revolutionized the way they are made, planned, and pitched, and they have truly grabbed the market by storm. Poled frameworks are an additional burden for awnings, which are already difficult enough. Air makes living easier, and 95% of sales of caravan awnings are now attributed to this. Actually, the majority of vendors rely on the Air design and do not offer poled caravan awnings in their inventory.
Just One Point of Air
makes it possible to inflate it with a single valve, increasing both the pitching ease and speed. The most sought-after design is the Single Point Inflation model, which has emerged as the most popular form of caravan awning.