How Much Does a Retractable Awning Weigh?
Quick answer
A residential lateral-arm retractable awning weighs about 7 to 11 lb per foot of width. In the makers' own charts that is 58 to 81 lb at 8 ft wide, 110 to 172 lb at 16 ft, and 140 to 204 lb at 20 ft, depending on model, motor and projection. A motor adds 5 to 10 lb, an extra 17 in of projection adds 10 lb, and full cassette models sit at the top of the range. The fabric is only about a tenth of it. The "9 to 18 lb per foot" figure that circulates is higher than any maker chart checked here, and a listing's shipping weight can run 40% over the awning itself. NIOSH puts 51 lb as the ideal-conditions lifting limit for one person, so plan on the weight divided by 51, rounded up, plus one more person for a lift made overhead from ladders.
A residential retractable awning weighs about 7 to 11 pounds per foot of width: roughly 60 to 80 lb for an 8 ft awning, 110 to 170 lb at 16 ft and 140 to 200 lb at 20 ft. Those figures come from the weight charts SunSetter and Advaning print for installers, and every model checked falls inside them. Where an awning lands in the range depends on three things you can read off the order: whether it has a motor, how far it projects, and whether the arms fold into a full cassette. Shipping weights and the per-foot rules of thumb that circulate online both run higher than the awning itself.
The number matters most for one moment: lifting the assembled awning onto its brackets, 8 ft or more up, from ladders.
Weight by width: the makers' own charts
SunSetter's Platinum Series manual has an "Awning Weight Chart" for every width and model it sells, printed so the installer can "determine how much help is needed to safely lift the Awning." Advaning publishes a dimension sheet for its Classic Series with a weight for each size. The table puts them side by side.
| Width | SunSetter manual | SunSetter motorized | SunSetter Pro | SunSetter Pro XL, 13 ft 1 in projection | Advaning Classic, manual / electric |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 ft | 65 | 70 | 81 | Not offered | 58 / 66 (7 ft projection) |
| 10 ft | 80 | 85 | 98 | Not offered | 68 / 76 (8 ft projection) |
| 12 ft | 90 | 95 | 111 | Not offered | 83 / 90 (10 ft projection) |
| 13 ft | 95 | 100 | 117 | Not offered | 87 / 95 (10 ft projection) |
| 14 ft | 100 | 110 | 129 | Not offered | Not offered |
| 15 ft | 105 | 115 | 135 | 165 | Not offered |
| 16 ft | 110 | 120 | 141 | 172 | Electric only: 115 (10 ft projection) |
| 18 ft | 120 | 130 | 154 | 188 | Not offered |
| 20 ft | Not offered | 140 | 167 | 204 | Not offered |
The lightest is Advaning's 8 by 7 ft manual model at 58 lb; the heaviest is SunSetter's 20 ft Pro XL with 13 ft 1 in arms at 204 lb. Advaning notes a "Deviation/Error 5~7%" on its figures, so treat any single number as plus or minus about 5 lb at the small end and 8 lb at 16 ft.
An earlier SunSetter manual for the Vista and Motorized awnings gives nearly the same curve: 78 lb at 10 ft rising to 120 lb at 18 ft for the manual Vista, and 84 to 126 lb for the motorized version. The weights have barely moved between product generations.
Pounds per foot: the rule of thumb that holds
Dividing each chart weight by the width gives a figure you can apply to an awning whose maker publishes nothing.
| Awning | Range checked | Lb per ft of width |
|---|---|---|
| Advaning Classic (semi-cassette), manual and electric | 8 to 16 ft | 6.7 to 8.3 |
| SunSetter Platinum manual | 8 to 18 ft | 6.7 to 8.1 |
| SunSetter Platinum motorized, standard and XL arms | 8 to 20 ft | 7.0 to 8.9 |
| SunSetter Pro | 8 to 20 ft | 8.4 to 10.1 |
| SunSetter Pro XL, 11 ft 8 in and 13 ft 1 in arms | 14 to 20 ft | 9.7 to 11.0 |
| Pergolux full cassette (UK), 30 to 88 kg | 2 to 6 m (6.6 to 19.7 ft) | About 10 to 11 |
| Dometic 9100 RV power awning, 21 ft, 90.33 lb net | One size | 4.3 |
Two patterns stand out. Per-foot weight falls as width rises, because some parts do not grow with width: a two-arm awning has two arms at 8 ft and at 18 ft, and one motor or gearbox. The roller tube, front bar and fabric are what get longer. And the heavier-duty lines, SunSetter's Pro and Pro XL and a fully enclosed cassette, carry 2 to 3 lb more per foot than the entry lines.
A figure of 9 to 18 lb per foot is repeated across the web, which would make an 18 ft awning 160 to 320 lb. None of the charts here comes near the top of that range: the highest calculated value is about 11 lb per foot, and the standard SunSetter and Advaning models sit below its bottom end. Use 7 to 8 lb per foot for an ordinary motorized or manual awning and 10 to 11 for a heavy-duty or full cassette model.
Shipping weight is not awning weight. Dometic's listing for the 21 ft 9100 gives a net weight of 90.33 lb and a parcel weight of 129.51 lb: the box and packing add 39 lb, or 43%. When a retailer gives a single "weight," check whether it is the item or the shipment before planning the lift.
What adds weight, and how much
The charts let you isolate each option, because the makers list otherwise identical awnings side by side.
- A motor: 5 to 10 lb. SunSetter's motorized awnings weigh 5 lb more than the manual ones from 8 to 13 ft and 10 lb more from 14 to 18 ft. The older Vista chart shows 6 lb at every width, and Advaning's electric models run 7 to 8 lb over its manual ones. Motor choice is not a weight decision (see motorized vs manual awnings).
- Longer arms: 10 lb for 17 in more projection. SunSetter's XL and Pro XL models come with 11 ft 8 in or 13 ft 1 in arms, and the longer arms add exactly 10 lb at every width from 15 to 20 ft. How far each width can reach is in how far a retractable awning can extend.
- A heavier-duty frame: 13 to 27 lb. The SunSetter Pro outweighs the standard motorized awning by 13 lb at 10 ft and 27 lb at 20 ft. Moving from the Pro to the Pro XL with 11 ft 8 in arms adds another 8 lb at 14 ft and 27 lb at 20 ft.
- A full cassette: the top of the range. The Pergolux figures, about 10 to 11 lb per foot, match the heavy-duty lateral-arm lines rather than the entry ones, since the closed case (aluminum 6063-T5 in the Pergolux specification) runs the whole width. See cassette awnings for what the case buys you.
- The fabric: about a tenth. Sunbrella's awning fabric is 9.00 oz per square yard on its technical data sheet, and Sattler's Lumera is 295 g per square meter (see Sunbrella vs Sattler vs Dickson). A 16 by 10 ft cover, 17.8 sq yd, is 10.0 lb of Sunbrella or 9.7 lb (4.4 kg) of Lumera: under a tenth of a 110 to 141 lb, 16 ft awning. Switching fabric brands changes the total by ounces.
Nearly all the rest is metal: the roller tube, front bar, torsion or square bar, the two arms with their springs, and the end castings.
RV awnings weigh about half as much
Dometic's 9100 power awning, 21 ft wide with vinyl fabric, has a listed net weight of 90.33 lb (40.97 kg): 4.3 lb per foot, about half the lightest residential figure above. An RV awning weight tells you nothing about a patio awning of the same width; RV vs residential awnings explains how differently they are built.
How many people it takes to lift one
The manuals agree on a minimum and stop there. Advaning's SG Series manual says "Minimum 2 people to install," and its Luxury Series manual says "2 or more persons are recommended," because "Installation will require to lift the assembled awning onto the brackets." A cassette awning manual from the Irish retailer Outdoor Living says "Two ~ four people" lift the awning to the bracket height. Pergolux, the only source here that ties crew size to weight, specifies 2 people for its 2 to 4 m awnings (30 to 67 kg) and 3 people for 5 to 6 m (72 to 88 kg). SunSetter prints its weight chart and leaves the head count to you.
Those minimums ask a lot of each person. Two people lifting Advaning's 16 ft electric awning carry 57.5 lb each; two lifting Pergolux's 4 m model carry about 74 lb each. The NIOSH lifting equation, as summarized by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, starts from a "load constant" of 23 kg, about 51 lb, which NIOSH set as a load that "under ideal conditions, is safe for 75% of females and 90% of males." The equation only lowers that figure as conditions worsen, and a long load lifted overhead from ladders is far from ideal.
So treat 51 lb per person as a ceiling, not a target, and size the crew like this: divide the awning's weight by 51, round up, and add one person. The extra person covers the moment one end is in its bracket and the other is not.
| Example from the charts | Weight | Lifters | Each person carries |
|---|---|---|---|
| SunSetter 8 ft manual | 65 lb | 3 | About 22 lb |
| Advaning 12 by 10 ft electric | 90 lb | 3 | 30 lb |
| SunSetter 14 ft motorized | 110 lb | 4 | About 28 lb |
| SunSetter 16 ft motorized | 120 lb | 4 | 30 lb |
| SunSetter 18 ft Pro | 154 lb | 5 | About 31 lb |
| SunSetter 20 ft Pro XL, 13 ft 1 in arms | 204 lb | 5 | About 41 lb |
Three people for any retractable matches the crew in our DIY awning installation guide: one on each ladder and one on the ground. From about 110 lb up, the extra lifters need somewhere to stand along the wall, which means more ladders or a platform. Past 150 lb, or on a second-story or soffit mount, that is the point at which paying for installation makes sense; awning installation cost gives the typical labor charge.
Keep the arm restraints on until it is bolted in. SunSetter's manual says not to remove the plastic safety sleeves from the lateral arms until instructed, and Advaning's says the same of its safety restraints. The arms "contain tensioned springs and may release very quickly," in Advaning's words, and a falling awning with released arms is far more dangerous than its weight alone suggests.
What the weight means for the wall
Less than most people expect, because the dead weight is shared across every fastener. SunSetter's Platinum awnings ship with 2 brackets at 8 ft, 3 from 10 to 13 ft, 4 from 14 to 16 ft and 6 from 17 to 20 ft. Each wall bracket takes two 3/8 in lag screws: two 4 in lags on the standard bracket, or one 4 in and one 5 in on the XL bracket. Advaning's manuals and sheet use the same 3/8 in by 4 in lag (M9) for wood and M13 expansion bolts for masonry.
Worked example
SunSetter's heaviest awning, the 20 ft Pro XL at 204 lb, hangs on 6 XL brackets with 12 lag screws. That is 34 lb per bracket and 17 lb per lag of dead weight.
Now let one inch of rain collect on a 16 by 10 ft canopy. Water weighs about 5.2 lb per square foot per inch of depth, so 160 sq ft holds about 830 lb, more than seven times the 110 lb of a 16 ft manual awning. As awning bracket spacing works through, that load sits out at the front bar, and the arms turn it into hundreds of pounds of pull on the top fasteners of each arm bracket.
So the awning's weight decides how many people you need, not what the wall needs. The fasteners are sized for leverage from wind and water at the front bar, which is why water pooling damages awnings their own weight never would. For what to fasten into, see mounting on brick, siding and stucco.
Where these figures stop applying
- Fixed and metal awnings. Everything here is a lateral-arm retractable. A fixed aluminum or steel awning has no arms or roller and its weight depends on the frame and roof material; see aluminum awnings.
- Widths beyond the charts. The data stop at 20 ft (about 6 m). Do not extend the per-foot figure past that; ask the maker for the weight.
- Accessories. The charts are for the awning as shipped. SunSetter has you fit its optional cover or hood before the lift, so add it to the weight.
- Your exact model. If your manual has a weight chart, its figure for your width beats any table on this page.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a 16 ft retractable awning weigh?
About 110 to 172 lb. SunSetter's chart gives 110 lb for its 16 ft manual awning, 120 lb motorized, 141 lb for the Pro and 172 lb for the Pro XL with 13 ft 1 in arms. Advaning lists its 16 by 10 ft electric Classic at 115 lb.
How much does a motor add to an awning's weight?
5 to 10 lb. SunSetter's motorized awnings weigh 5 lb more than manual ones up to 13 ft and 10 lb more from 14 to 18 ft; Advaning's electric models add 7 to 8 lb.
Can two people install a retractable awning?
Two is the minimum in Advaning's manuals, but at 16 ft that puts about 58 lb on each person, above the 51 lb NIOSH sets for ideal lifting conditions. Divide the weight by 51, round up and add one: three people for an awning up to 102 lb, four up to 153 lb, five up to 204 lb (the heaviest in the charts).
Sources and further reading
- SunSetter: Platinum Series owner's manual and installation instructions (Awning Weight Chart, parts list)
- SunSetter: Owner's manual and installation instructions, Vista and Motorized awnings
- Advaning: Classic Series retractable awning dimensions
- Advaning: SG Series retractable awning owner's manual
- Advaning: Luxury Series retractable awning owner's manual
- Dometic: Dometic 9100 Power Awning with LED (917L), specifications
- Pergolux: Awnings technical specifications
- Outdoor Living: Cassette manual awning instructions
- Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety: NIOSH lifting equation: assessing relevant handling factors
How we write our guides: figures are typical US ranges checked against manufacturer documentation, published standards and installer pricing. Read our editorial standards. Spotted an error or outdated detail? Request a correction.