Awnings: a simple cooling tech we apparently forgot about
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN brings it up in threads on cooling, window heat gain and house design as a convincing case for awnings.
What it is
Technology Connections looks at why awnings disappeared from houses and how effective they are at cutting solar heat gain and cooling costs. It argues they are a simple, forgotten cooling technology.
Recommended by 2 HN commenters across 2 different months, 2024 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Recommends elric · 2024-07 · on “New technology could reduce the amount of energy for air conditioning”
> Passive cooling measures (e.g., window shutters) should not be overlooked as they cost nothing to run. Technology Connections just did a video on awnings. I'm not quite as puppy eyed about them as TC, but they are pretty darn effective. [this video]
Recommends hunter2_ · 2024-11 · on “Show HN: I built a(nother) house optimized for LAN parties”
It's almost certainly insolation (sol, not sul). UV/IR rejecting film on the windows might help, given mild enough winters that blocking it year round is fine. Check out [this video] If you can find someone willing to do it, dumping the heat (pumped out as air conditioning) directly into the pool would be quite efficient relative to heating the pool separately. Have it dump to the ambient outdoor air only as overflow when the pool's thermostat is satisfied (upper 80s or whatever).
Cites AlexErrant · 2024-10 · on “Why don't we use awnings anymore (2022)”
The "Technology Connections" youtube channel recently discussed awnings too. (And it had more or less the same message as this blog.) [this video]
Cites MattSayar · 2025-05 · on “Heat stress mitigation by trees and shelters at bus stops”
Reminds me of a Technology Connections video describing how helpful awnings are in reducing temperatures inside your house [0]. Are there any modern-looking awnings that wouldn't look out of place in my neighborhood? [0] [this video]