Dometic - even more awnings

The awning is one of the most basic accessories for a motorhome or caravan. If the vehicle is used not only for traveling and overnight, but also during the day, e.g. on a campsite, it is difficult to imagine a hot day without a bit of shade.

In fact, the awning is useful in many situations. First of all, it provides shade, but also works well as a roof in less favorable weather. As it is quite a delicate product, it should not be used during a storm, but it can protect us from light gusts of wind or light rain (especially in combination with the vestibule).

Dometic is one of the largest and most recognized manufacturers in the market of camping accessories. Recently, the brand has expanded its offer in the field of awnings, so now the choice is really wide.

You can choose the color

First of all, we can appreciate that the manufacturer's catalog includes awnings adapted to the sizes of very different vehicles. The smallest awnings are 1.5 meters long, while the longest can be up to 6 meters long .

The distance the awning can be extended is no less important, because it depends on the area in which it will provide cover. In the case of Dometic products, this parameter is - depending on the model - 2.5 or even 2.75 m .

If we want to choose the awning according to our needs (and budget), Dometic offers us many different awning configurations. And yes, it can be mounted either on the roof or on the wall, it can be removed from the cassette manually or electrically, and there are also different colors of fabrics and housing to choose from.

Basically, the design of the roof and wall awnings is the same, with the main difference being the body-mounted molding. In the case of roof-mounted awnings, the mounting strips are adapted to the roof structure of a specific vehicle and attached to the body in places factory-reinforced by the vehicle manufacturer, e.g. at the mounting points of roof racks. In many cases, such a solution does not require any interference with the structure or the roof sheathing - says Grzegorz Michalak, who is responsible for technical matters at Dometic Poland.

It is different with wall awnings. These, in turn, are universal and fit any wall, provided that it is flat along its entire length and at right angles to the ground. When installing such an awning, carefully read the documentation of the vehicle (wall structure) so that the batten is attached in places where there is wall reinforcement - explains Grzegorz Michalak.

Good value for money

The most budget-friendly proposals include Perfectwall (PW) 1000 and PerfectRoof (PR) 2000 . Their distinguishing features include compact dimensions, which will be particularly important in the case of the model mounted on the roof. As the awning cassette takes up little space, you can easily install, for example, solar panels next to it.

At the same time, these awnings have the advantages of much more expensive models. The waterproof fabric protruding from the housing is made of one piece , and therefore does not contain seams, which has a positive effect on its durability.

A crank is used to unfold and close the awnings, and the folding legs with a convenient Easy Lock attachment (with a spring lock) will ensure the stability of the unfolded structure. The legs are mounted to the front rail at the end of the pulled out awning. The rail inclination can be changed , which facilitates the installation of supports.

With an electric motor

At the opposite end of the offer, we find models in which the awning extends or retracts automatically. Just press a button on the remote control and the 12V electric motor does all the work for us. The whole thing, because awnings such as PR 4500 and PW 3500 do not have legs , so you do not have to worry about folding them.

Despite the lack of supports, the structure is stable, which is ensured by durable joints and automatically folded rails. In the event of a strong wind, the awning will fold itself , so that even if we are far from the caravan or motorhome during a storm, the awning will protect itself from damage.

We can also choose the intermediate models: PR 2500, PW 1750 and PW 1500 , in which the motor is optionally installed. The PW 1750 version is extremely interesting, because it additionally has a manually retractable roller blind that can be lowered vertically, making the awning almost a vestibule ...

However, we will write about the additions that can be added to Dometic awnings in a separate article, and more information about Dometic awnings can be found at www.my-caravanning.com/en