If you are considering buying a full-size awning, of the traditional frame type, you will need to buy the correct size awning for your caravan.
This type of awning fits all the way around your caravan's awning rail - so it's very important to buy the right size awning. If your awning is too large, it will sag, rain will pool on the roof and the fabric will flap around in the wind. If your awning is too small, then it will be impossible to peg out properly .
Some awning manufacturers have tables to look up the awning size by caravan, but the most reliable method is to use the caravan's A-Measurement which is the universal method of sizing an awning, all full size awnings are sold by A-Measurement Size.
What is the A-Measurement?
The A measurement is the distance from the ground up and all the way around your caravan's awning rail and back down to the ground.
If you have your caravan owners manual, the A-measurement should be listed on the page giving all the dimensions of the caravan.
If you don't have the manual, then all you need is a tent peg, tape measure, a ball of string/twine or whatever is to hand - and an assistant to make life easier.
Knock the tent peg into the ground directly below the awning rail at the rear of the caravan, and attach the end of the string to it (or if you don't have a tent peg, secure it with a rock etc.)
Carefully feed the string all the way through the awning rail, then back down to the ground at the front of the caravan. If the caravan awning rail has a pronounced return curve at the lower forward section as pictured above, let the string exit the awning rail and measure down to the ground as per the diagram.
Cut the string at the point where it meets the ground at the front, having made a quick visual check to make sure that the string hasn't broken or detached from the peg to the rear of the caravan.
Measure the length of the string, in centimetres. This is your caravan's A-Measurement and your caravan awning size.
(TIP: The string may be too long to measure in one length, to make it easier, fold the string in half, measure this length and double it - or fold in half, then half again, and multiply it by 4)
Each size of caravan awning is made to fit a size range, so for instance if your A_Measurement is 960cm you would choose the size to fit 950-975cm
If your A-measurement is exactly at the point between sizes, it is advisable to go for the larger size, as this allows for leeway where the ground is uneven and your caravan may be raised on levelling ramps - which effectively increases the ground-to-ground A-Measurement.
We recommend always using the A-Measurement to choose your awning size, to be totally sure that you are getting the correct size for your caravan.
Measuring for a Porch Awning
A porch awning is measured differently as it does not wrap all the way around your caravan. Fitment relies on two measurements:
1) The height, measured from the ground vertically, of the awning rail (H)
2) The length of the straight section of awning rail across the top. (L)
However there are other factors that you should bear in mind. The door should be within the section measured for length to ensure that the door opens into the porch. Window position should also be taken into account; for instance in the example below if an awning measuring the full length of L was fitted, the back wall of the awning would be against the window, obscuring half the window and preventing it from being opened. To get full use of the window, you would only measure 'L' up to the point where the window begins (L2)
Different models of caravan may have different window, door and hatch positions so always note any access points and bear these in mind when selecting the size of caravan porch awning that you need.
