For those who love spending time outdoors, longer summer days mean more sun exposure and more exposure to extreme heat. Whether your summer fun is relaxing on the lanai, wallowing by the pool or babysitting the smoker on the deck, during these months, the sun’s rays and their intrinsic heat can be overwhelming without some cooling effects for your outdoor living space. With myriad options to introduce some shade in the backyard, what is the best way to beat the heat this summer?
Heat and Sun Exposure Effects
Anyone who has spent too long on the beach or on the golf course knows all too well the impacts of excessive heat exposure. Ranging from heat stroke, to heat exhaustion, even cramps and rashes, summer’s heat can be a blessing and a curse for those who enjoy the outdoors. Combining excessive heat with the sun exposure effects can make spending time outdoors without the proper shade retreat potentially dangerous.
According to FamilyDoctor.org, too much sun exposure can be harmful. Sun exposure effects can lead to skin changes resulting in freckles or moles, potentially dangerous, lowered immune system responses, skin cancers that, if left untreated, can cause longer-term health issues, and perhaps just as scary, early aging as the skin turns leathery from too much exposure.
The experts at FamilyDoctor.org recommend wearing sunscreen and other methods to limit exposure of the skin, but also to plan for your daily sun exposure. To mitigate heat exhaustion, the experts at the Mayo Clinic suggest several tactics, including taking it easy during the hottest parts of the day and drinking plenty of fluids. This brings us back to the need to create cooling elements for your outdoor living space.
Shade, The Easiest Way to Cool an Outdoor Space
Cooling effects for your backyard patio or deck can came in innumerable forms from a dip in the pool to high-speed outdoor fans or even misting machines. But, the easiest way to cool down on a hot day is to simply relax in the shade and rehydrate will a cool drink. While air temperatures do not actually change between the sunny and shady areas, escaping the sun’s harmful rays can make the “feels like” temperature drop by 10-15 degrees.
How to Create Shade in the Backyard for the Whole Family
Adding some shade in the backyard can take many forms. A shade cover for just a couple people can be as simple as popping up a portable patio umbrella or stringing a sun shade over the patio. But, to ensure the entire family can seek refuge from the sun, a larger and more permanent shade solution may be in order. The most dynamic and flexible shade structure to accommodate the entire family is a pergola. Modern pergolas are available as solid-roof designs that create full-time shade, or with an adjustable louvered roof design that allows you to control the sun/shade balance on your patio. Pergolas are also infinitely scalable from a small 5-foot by 5-foot footprint from a DIY kit up to hundreds of square feet of shade in the backyard with a custom design.
High Tech Cooling Effects for the Backyard
More than just a way to create shade in the backyard, aluminum pergolas can bring many relaxation amenities to your outdoor living space. Our customized pergolas can be outfitted with embedded LED lighting, motorized retractable sun shades, integrated patio fans, and much more. The motorized louvered roof can be controlled by handheld remote, or become a completely hands-free voice activated pergola that integrates with your smart home devices. To take the pergola controls to the next level, smart pergolas can even incorporate sensors that monitor the weather and autonomously close when a passing shower approaches.
Of course, all of this technology requires a power source. If the pergola is attached to the home, simply wiring the new shade structure to your home’s electrical is quite easy. For standalone pergolas built further from the house, pergola solar panels can be integrated with the design to provide more than enough power for the pergola operation and still feed accessory outlets to charge your phone or power a pellet grill.
Conclusion
Good old-fashioned shade in the backyard is one of the best options if you are looking for the best way to beat the summer heat and avoid excessive heat or sun exposure. However, for homeowners looking to make that shade structure a luxurious and stylish addition to their home, a pergola system is an ideal solution. If you would like to explore adding an outdoor structure to your backyard, contact us today and we will have one of our local experts reach out to you.
