7 Ways to Keep Your Deck or Patio Cool This Summer – Ranked by Impact

Published On: June 13, 20222.4 min read
retractable awning cooling west-facing Denver deck at 2pm - 7 Ways to Keep Your Deck or Patio Cool This Summer
Summary

A Denver awning company ranks seven patio cooling methods by effectiveness, noting that most online lists wrongly treat all solutions as equal when overhead shade alone can drop temperatures up to 20 degrees.

  • Overhead shade like a retractable awning provides the biggest impact at up to 20 degrees cooler while drop shades on the west edge handle low afternoon sun that slides under overhead covers.
  • Shading adjacent glass doors helps both the patio and indoor cooling while lighter surface colors and outdoor rugs reduce heat stored by dark decking and concrete.
  • Air movement from fans removes stored heat and misting works well in Colorado's dry climate while trees and plants offer long-term shade but should not be the primary solution.
How to keep your deck or patio cool in summer?

The most effective ways to cool your deck or patio include installing shade structures like pergolas or awnings, which provide the greatest temperature reduction. Additional methods include adding outdoor fans, using light-colored furniture and decking materials, incorporating misting systems, planting shade trees or vines, and using outdoor rugs to reduce surface heat absorption.

A west-facing Denver deck can hit unusable by 2 p.m. from June to September. The internet’s cooling lists treat a misting fan and a shade structure as equals; they are not. Here are the seven fixes ranked by degrees earned, from a company that has been shading Front Range patios since 1979.

1. Put shade overhead (worth up to 20 degrees)

Nothing else on this list comes close. Direct sun is the heat source; block it and the space under an awning runs up to 20 degrees cooler. A retractable awning is the strongest version of the fix for most homes – shade at 2 p.m., open sky at 8, winter sun in January. Fixed and pergola cover do the same work where permanence fits better; the type comparison is here.

drop shade blocking low evening sun on patio edge

2. Stop the low western sun with drop shades

By 5 p.m. the sun rides low enough to slide under any overhead cover and cook the space sideways. Drop shades on the west edge finish the job the overhead shade started – and cut evening glare and wind besides. This pairing, overhead plus west edge, is the whole cooling package for most patios.

3. Shade the glass next to the patio

A sliding glass door in full sun radiates heat onto the patio and pours it into the house. A window awning over the adjacent glass cools both sides of the wall at once and pays back on the energy bill.

4. Fix the surfaces underfoot

Dark composite decking and concrete store afternoon heat and release it all evening. Light-colored outdoor rugs over the hottest zones, and light finishes when resurfacing time comes, take a real bite out of radiated heat – the same reason light canopy colors run cooler.

outdoor ceiling fan under covered patio

5. Move the air

Shade removes the heat source; moving air removes the stored heat. An outdoor-rated ceiling fan under a covered patio, or a pedestal fan on an open one, is worth several felt degrees and keeps the bugs honest too.

6. Mist, if you water wisely

Evaporative cooling loves Colorado’s dry air – a simple mist line on the shade edge drops felt temperature meaningfully at modest water use. It works here far better than in humid states; keep the mist off fabric and let the awning dry before retracting.

7. Plant for the long game

A deciduous tree west of the patio is the 10-year version of an awning: summer shade, bare-branch winter sun. Planters and climbing vines on a trellis edge cool at the margins now. Plants finish the space; they do not carry it – which is why they rank seventh and not first.

The order to spend in

Overhead shade first, west-edge drop shades second, everything else after – items 3 to 7 polish a space that items 1 and 2 make usable. We measure exposure on-site for free and will tell you which two of the seven your patio needs: 303-816-2303.

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