How Motorized Retractable Awnings Work: Remote, Wind Sensor, and One-Touch Operation

In a mild climate, a motor on an awning is a nice-to-have. In Minnesota it is the whole point. A hand-cranked awning that a homeowner has to walk out and manually roll up is exactly the awning that gets left open when an afternoon storm rolls off the Twin Cities metro, or gets ignored the first cold week of October and then gets buried. After more than 40 years of Sunesta installs across Minnesota and Western Wisconsin, we build every awning motorized for one reason: the machine reacts faster and more reliably than the homeowner does. Here is how the electric side of a Sunesta awning actually works. ## What is an electric retractable awning? An electric retractable awning is a fabric awning driven by a tubular motor hidden inside the roller tube, controlled by a wireless remote instead of a hand crank. Press one button and the awning extends. Press another and it retracts flush against the house. There are no exposed gears, no wall crank, and no front support legs on a Sunesta. The whole mechanism lives inside the frame.  The motor Sunesta uses is a Somfy tubular motor, the same brand that powers most premium residential awnings in North America. It sits inside the aluminum roller tube where the fabric winds. When you hit the remote, the motor turns the tube, the arms extend under spring tension, and the fabric pulls taut. Nothing on the outside of the awning tells you a motor is in there. ## How motorized awnings operate day to day Day to day, a motorized awning is a one-button tool. There are three control paths, and most Minnesota homeowners end up using all three across a season: 1. **Wireless remote.** The standard control. A handheld remote pairs to the awning and to any SmartDrop valance or LED lights on the same unit, so one remote runs the whole setup. Extra remotes can be paired for other people in the house. 2. **Wall switch or timer.** An optional fixed control mounted inside near the patio door, useful for a screened porch or a spot where the handheld tends to wander off. 3. **Automatic sensors.** The wind sensor and optional sun sensor let the awning make its own decisions. This is the part that matters most in our climate, and it gets its own section below. Speed is the first thing people notice. A Sunesta extends fully in under 60 seconds, so shade arrives about as fast as it takes to pour a drink and sit down. Retraction is the same. That speed is the reason motorization changes behavior: when covering or clearing the patio is a single button press, people actually do it, instead of leaving the awning out through weather it should not see. > **Minnesota note:** Our summers swing from calm 90-degree afternoons to 50 mph downburst winds in the span of an hour. An awning you have to hand-crank is an awning that is still open when that wind hits. Motorization plus a wind sensor is what closes that gap. ## The Somfy wind sensor: why it matters here more than anywhere The single most important accessory on a Minnesota awning is the wind sensor. It is a small wireless unit mounted on the awning frame that reads wind load in real time. When gusts cross the threshold you set, it signals the Somfy motor to retract the awning automatically, with no remote, no app, and no one home. The awning is tucked back against the house before a storm has a chance to catch the fabric like a sail. > The wind sensor retracts the awning for you before the storm arrives. That one feature protects the fabric, the frame, and the warranty, and it is the reason we recommend it on nearly every install in the Twin Cities metro. This is not a luxury add-on in our market. It is the difference between an awning that survives a decade of Minnesota summers and one that gets torn in its second July. Fabric arms fully extended into a sudden gust is the number one way a retractable awning gets damaged, and it is the one failure the homeowner is almost never around to prevent manually. Because the sensor and motor are matched Somfy components, the retraction is a clean, controlled roll-up, not a jerky emergency stop. And because the awning is closed anyway when no one is enjoying it, the same automation quietly extends fabric life across the whole season. ## Optional heater and LED lighting on the same system Motorization is also what makes the comfort add-ons work as one integrated system rather than a pile of separate gadgets. Two upgrades run off the same setup: - **Integrated LED lighting:** soft downlight mounted in the awning frame for evening use, run from the same wireless remote as the awning. - **Integrated heater:** radiant heat to stretch the shoulder-season evenings that define Minnesota patio life, run from the same wireless remote. - **SmartDrop front-drop valance:** a motorized vertical drop that blocks low-angle morning and evening sun, run from the same wireless remote; see [our SmartDrop valance fabrics](/awning-front-drop-valance-fabrics). Because everything answers to one remote, extending the awning, dropping the SmartDrop valance, and turning on the lights and heater can all happen without getting up. That matters more here than in a warm climate: our comfortable outdoor evenings are limited, and the point of the whole system is to add hours and weeks back to a short season. ## Winter: the reason a Minnesota awning has to be retractable and motorized Here is where a retractable motorized awning separates itself from a pergola or any fixed structure. When the season turns, the awning retracts fully and tucks into the SmartCase cassette, a hard aluminum housing that seals the fabric and roller tube against the weather. Closed and cased, the awning carries zero snow load. There is nothing left extended for ice to build on or wind to fight. A fixed pergola or a canopy collects snow all winter. A cased Sunesta simply disappears until spring. > **The winter routine:** late in the season, one button retracts the awning into the SmartCase, and it stays cased and protected through freeze and thaw. Come spring, one button brings it back out. No disassembly, no storage, no tarps. That winter behavior is only possible because the awning is both retractable and motorized. A manual awning technically retracts too, but in practice a hand-crank unit gets left out or half-closed. The motor and the SmartCase together make closing up for winter a five-second habit instead of a chore. ## Frequently asked questions ### Do retractable awnings work in wind? Yes, when they are motorized and paired with a wind sensor. A Sunesta awning is engineered and American-built in Jacksonville, Florida to handle heat and wind, and the optional Somfy wind sensor retracts it automatically once gusts cross your set threshold. The correct move in any high-wind event is to retract the awning, and the sensor does that for you even when no one is home. We do not recommend leaving any retractable awning extended in a sustained storm, which is exactly why we build in the automation to prevent it. ### How fast does a retractable awning open? A Sunesta motorized awning extends fully in under 60 seconds from a single button press, and retracts just as fast. That speed is the practical reason motorization works: covering or clearing the patio is quick enough that homeowners actually do it every time. ### Can I add motorization or a wind sensor to an existing awning? On a Sunesta, motorization is standard rather than an add-on, and the wind sensor, sun sensor, LED lights, heater, and SmartDrop valance can be specified at order or, in many cases, added to an existing Sunesta unit later. We confirm what a specific awning can accept during the in-home visit. ### Which Sunesta models are motorized? All three residential models run on the same wireless motor system: the Sunesta Model, the Sunstyle Model, and the Sunlight Model. You can see the full lineup on our [motorized retractable awnings page](/retractable-awnings). ## See it work in your own backyard The fastest way to understand a motorized awning is to press the button yourself. Our Sunesta Certified Installers bring the remote, the fabric samples, and the measurements to you, and there is no charge and no obligation. Call [763-271-3366](tel:+17632713366) to book a free in-home estimate, or browse the [full range of motorized Sunesta awning models](/retractable-awnings) first. We proudly serve Minnesota and Western Wisconsin, and we have been doing it since 1981.