More caravanners than ever are using air awnings, which brings up the question of whether you should choose an air awning or a pole awning. There are, of course, arguments for both.
If you’re looking into purchasing an air awning, you’re probably very interested in a comparison of traditional pole awnings and air awnings. That’s why I’ve decided to write this blog post comparing air awnings and traditional pole awnings. By the end of this post, you should know which of the two is the best option for you.
So to compare the two, there are two main considerations.
- How fast can you put the awnings up?
- Which is going to cost the most?
After speaking to other caravan owners, answers to these questions are what people consider most important when choosing between traditional and air awnings. So I’ll answer these questions in as much detail as possible, so you’ll know which is best for you by the end of this post.
How fast can you put the awnings up?
No one wants to be messing around for ages when they get to a site. This was the general sentiment of the other caravanners I spoke to as part of writing this blog post. Their biggest concern about using an air awning was how long it was going to take to put it up.
It’s well-known that putting up an awning is far from the easiest thing in the world, and I’m sure awnings are the subject of many a heated argument between family members. So anyway, let’s take a look.
First, let’s consider how long it takes to put up an air awning.
On average, it will take 15 – 20 minutes to put up an air awning, if you know what you’re doing. Of course, the time to put up an air awning will all depend on the size of the awning as well as your knowledge of what you’re doing. It goes without saying that inexperience is your worst enemy here, and putting up an air awning for the first time will take you longer than the average time.
The video below is one of my favourite examples of how long it takes to put up an air awning. If you watch the video, you’ll see that it takes the man 17 minutes and 46 seconds to fully erect a 4m x 2.5m air awning. This is about average, as I mentioned above. Particularly considering it is one man putting up the awning by himself. However, it is notable that he knows what he’s doing. If you haven’t used an air awning before, it would probably take you much longer to put it up.
Despite the saying divorce in a bag, which is often used in relation to awnings, it shouldn’t take 2 people too long to put up an air awning. The main problem with an air awning is feeding it into the rail and pulling it along. With a traditional pole awning, you thread the fabric into the rail (without the poles in). It’s light and fairly easy to attach the awning to your caravan. It’s different with an air awning.
The air awning is rather heavy, so feeding it into the awning rail channel and pulling it along can be very difficult for one person, or even two. So that’s why feeding the air awning into the rail sometimes slows down the setting up of the awning.
Once you’ve fed the air awning into the rain channel, the rest of the setup is very easy. You have to start inflating the awning, which you can do with a manual or electric pump. If you’re using an electric pump, you can sit back and watch as your awning puts itself up!
Once the awning is inflated, you’ll need to put the bracing poles into place and peg the awning into the ground. And that’s it! Of course, the time it takes to complete this entire process will differ according to several factors such as:
- Your experience
- The size of the awning
- The number of people putting it up
- The weather conditions
Now it’s time to look at how long it takes to put up a traditional pole awning. We’re lead to believe that putting up a traditional pole awning will take longer than putting up an air awning. But is that true? Perhaps not…
As we saw in the video, you can actually put up a traditional awning faster than an air awning. That’s certainly a result I didn’t expect when I watched the video for the first time. However, I think there’s a few points to consider here.
- The man in the video clearly understands how to put up this awning. He’s not using a manual or anything; he already knows how to put up awnings. It’s going to take you much longer if you haven’t put up your awning before and you don’t know where every pole goes.
- He’s putting the awning up with ease. We’re not all as fit as a fiddle, so it’s bound to take some people much longer. Depending on your personal circumstances, putting up a pole awning could be a strenuous task that takes hours.
Now I’ve covered those points, I’m going to assume that if you’re reading this blog post you probably don’t already own a caravan awning. With that in mind, even if you had the Isabella Magnum 400 (the pole awning in the video), you wouldn’t put it up anywhere near as quickly as the guy in the video did. So, how long will it really take to put up a pole awning?
Unfortunately, there’s no scientific answer. It will depend on the size of the awning, the number of people putting it up, the weather conditions… basically, there are so many factors that affect how long it’ll take to put up an awning.
However, I can give you a rough idea based on my own experience and those I have spoken to when writing this blog post. For an awning such as the one in the video, it typically takes around 40 – 60 minutes to erect. This information is based on answers from people following instructions and putting up the awning with little or none prior experience. So while it isn’t a scientific answer, it gives you a general idea.
It’s much easier to feed the traditional awning into the caravan’s awning channel, because it’s just fabric. You put the poles in after, so it’s much lighter. However, putting all the poles into place can take at least 40 – 50 minutes if you’re following instructions and putting the awning up for one of the first times.
Conclusion: You can put the air awning up fastest
I’ve explained how feeding the air awning into the caravan’s awning channel can be a tough challenge because of its weight. However, once you’ve fed the awning in, the hard work’s done. You can manually pump air into your awning or use an electrical pump, and there’s no messing around with poles.
On the other hand, if you’ve been putting up the same pole awning for years, it goes without saying that you can put it up much quicker than an air awning. If you know what you’re doing, it’s inevitable that it will be quick and easy. However, an air awning is the quickest and easiest option for most people.
Which type of awning is going to cost the most?
The second of the very important questions is which type of awning is going to cost the most?
Cost comes into the equation when considering any big purchase. And have no doubts, an awning really is a big purchase unless you find yourself a bargain.
So how does cost compare, does an air awning cost more than a traditional awning or is it the other way around?
If we look at the examples given in the video above, the traditional awning costs more than the air awning. Typically, however, this isn’t the case. In the video, the Isabella Magnum 400 and the Isabella Ventura Trinus Air 400 are the awnings in use. The Isabella Magnum costs around £1,500, whereas the Isabella Ventura Trinus Air 400 costs around £1,300.
The problem when comparing awning types is there’s often no direct comparison. For example, the Ventura range is no comparison for the Magnum range, because the awning fabric is a different material. Surprisingly, this tends to be the case across the board, meaning directly comparing air awnings and traditional pole awnings is difficult.
Looking at air awnings from different manufacturers, air awnings to tend to be more expensive than similarly-sized pole awnings. This is likely because of the convenience more than anything else. Some manufacturers boast about air awnings being the future, so that’s likely the primary reason that you pay more.
Conclusion: Air awnings usually cost more
In conclusion, air awnings usually cost more. However, this isn’t always the case. As an example, I’ll refer to the two awnings in the video I linked to earlier in this blog post. Air awnings usually cost more due to the convenience.
Which is right for you?
Hopefully, this blog post helps you to decide whether an air awning or traditional awning is the right choice for you. I believe air awnings are the best, primarily because they’re the easiest to erect.
On the other hand, traditional pole awnings are more often than not made out of better materials than their air counterparts. So perhaps it’s more accurate to say air awnings are the most convenient, rather than stating they’re the best.
In the end, it all comes down to what’s most important to you: convenience, price, or quality?
I hope that this blog post has helped you to make what is a very important decision. If you’ve decided that an air awning is for you, I’ve written just the blog post for you. Best Air Awnings For Caravans contains all the best awnings for caravans, as well as reviews that explain why they’re the best. I hope that reading it helps you choose the best awning for your caravan.