Is there an awning to keep RV slide room cooler and not block fridge vents?

Hi Dave,
Can I pick your brain? On our seasonally stationary bumper tow, our entry side gets the most solar gain. Our awning covers the front half ahead of a roughly 30-inch-deep by 15-foot-long slide room with kitchen and smaller couch. The awning rail on the trailer side wall covers the entire length of the trailer—meaning the length above the slide room is unused.

I would like to shade the roof and especially side wall of the slide room from the sun on days that are not too windy. Shading the side wall will also help the absorption refrigerator (bottom and top vents on the side wall). An awning that projected even a few feet beyond the slide room side wall would help a lot.

I don’t think a powered awning would work with the slide room—and I don’t want to spend that much anyway. But is there another option to anchor awning fabric using the rail that can be easily secured above or on the slide room roof when windy? I can’t just tie the awning fabric down over the slide room side wall—it would totally block the refrigerator vents. Also, I doubt my wife would be happy about blocking all light from the window above the couch. —Jim, 2017 Keystone Cougar X-Lite 33SAB

Hi Jim,
I did some research on your year and model RV. It was interesting to find about half of the video walkarounds had a slide top awning and half did not. So, I assume the unit came without one and these were installed by a dealer or owner. Looking at the floor plan, your patio awning can only fit between the front edge and the space between the entrance door and the slide out due to the vertical arm that is required.

Where to start

I would start with a slide room awning that could be attached to the awning/drip rail that you described. This would help shade the top of the room as well as keep sticks, acorns, and other debris off the roof. Those could tear the bulb seal when the roof is retracted.

As you stated, I don’t think a traditional awning, either manual or electric, would work. This is due to the edge of the slide room being in the way of the angle of the fabric. Plus, I don’t think there is enough room between the entrance door and the slide room for two awning rails, since you already have one there.

Save some money on awning?

Since this unit is stationary, you might be able to save some money by just purchasing the awning fabric, which would have a hemmed edge that would slide into the awning rail, and then clamp it to the edge or flange of the slide room. You would not need the retraction tube on the slide room.

Once you have the slide room awning covering the top, then it would be good to get a window awning that could be mounted to the side of the slide room. You can find a variety of sizes up to 7’ on Amazon here.

Since the room is 15’, one awning could be placed over the refrigerator vent and a second over the windows above the couch.

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Dave Solberg is a leading expert in the RV industry and the author of the “RV Handbook.”

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