Melbourne heat wave survival tips

Summer is almost upon us and some are saying it could be the hottest yet, causing more deadly heat waves and bushfires.  Melbourne is one of the hottest cities in Australia during summer.  So here are some tips about surviving another Melbourne heat wave.

In recent years we've seen power outages in Melbourne which render air conditioning useless when it is needed most.  Air conditioning can not always be relied on to provide respite from heat wave conditions.

The World Heatlh Organisation in Europe highlights the harmful health effects of heatwaves which cause many thousands of deaths around the world each year.  The effects include heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heat stroke (or Sun Stroke) with symptoms including fainting, nausea, weak pulse, vomiting, dizziness, exhaustion, confusion, dry skin, heavy sweating, painful spasms, blood pressure, hyperventilation, loss of consciousness and even death.  The organisation in fact lists shade up there with hydration as one of the most important things to survive the heat.

With the summer heat waves so close, it is time to start planning ways you can reduce the impact on your health, as well as the health of your family, friends, workers and colleagues.

Seniors as well as people with medical conditions are at highest risk of fatality during a heat wave.  While heat disorders effect school children, sportspeople, people working in heat related industries, construction workers and pregnant women people most.

Custom built Shade Sails, awnings and umbrellas are one of the best ways to block the sun and UV radiation outdoors during heat waves.  Also unlike tin roofs, tensile structures are typically resistant to changing heat conditions.  To get the most out of Shade Sails, you need a customised shade solution that takes into account position and sun to provide maximum resistance to heat wave conditions.

So help the people you care most about to survive the next Melbourne heat wave by having a Shade Sail or Shade Structure put where you need it most.

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How long does Shade Sail Installation Take ?

We often get asked how long it takes for Shade Sails to be installed.  The answer is it varies, but here is a general guide.

A typical custom shade sail installation takes 4 to 5 weeks as all the sail support posts are secured in concrete footings.

The concrete in the footings will cure up to 50% of their strength in 7 days, 75% of its strength in 14 days and 90% in 21 days.

We wait at least 14 days before returning to install the sail and tension.

This ensures the best result and you should never rush Shade Sail installation.

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Sustainable Schools

Throughout Australia, schools are getting government grants for sustainability projects which include Shade Solutions.

The Australian Sustainable Schools Initiative is one such national project and schools are encouraged to create and submit sustainability plans as part of their participation. 

Shade Solutions including Shade Sails and Shade Awnings are great ways to achieve sustainability as they can greatly reduce energy consumption and use, control airflow and water evaporation from pools and sustainable gardens.  Shade Solutions are a cost effective way to save energy, are low maintenance and the components of Shade Sails are recyclable.  Any school can use Shade Solutions to become a sustainable school.

Among the grants available is the National Schools Solar Grant which also provides funding of shade awnings for schools.

We have worked on Shade projects with schools to achieve similar sustainable outcomes.
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Shade Sail Prices and Shade Sails Cost

The question of the Cost of Shade Sails and Shade Sail Prices can be a hard question to answer due to the fact that there are so many different types and sizes of shade sails and ways of installing them and your location. However it is the burning question so we'll try to give you a brief guide.

I'm going to talk briefly about two types of jobs - backyard jobs and larger multi-post and multi-sail jobs.

There are the usual type of sails that you see in parks and school yards, which consist of 4 posts of varying heights  usually 2 diagonally high and 2 diagonally low which is generally known as a Hyperbolic sail.  Most engineers request that these sails are constructed this way to equalize the load on the sail.  You can have multiples of  these sails and they can share posts. When 2 sails share posts , the engineering specs must be higher due to the increased loads on the common post.  My point is that “Sails aint Sails” and the customer does not actually know what they are getting or what the supplier is basing his engineering on. This means are the post diameters and thicknesses correct, are the footings large enough, are the roof masts braced correctly or are they cheap and nasty (cause you won’t be able to tell from the outside) is the wall ok to suspend from or is there existing cracking or should that wall be used at all due to too many windows and lintels or does the wall stop at the corner. 

Two sail suppliers may quote the same size sail but the materials labour and specifications that go in to the construction may vary greatly. The same old 100mm x 100mm posts can not be continuously dragged out job after job and pushed beyond the heights it can go to and past the sail it can suspend. As sails get larger, the post and footing must increase and the same goes for when the post is taller. A customer must be aware of the quality of sail they are buying and is the sail engineered to the required level . 

Another thing to look at when choosing a shade company and parting with hard earned money is does the shade company  have insurance, do you think they will be around to cover their warranty if the needed or is there any subtsance to the company or does it consist of a man and a van who outsources sail manufacture or post digging etc (you’re actually dealing with 3 or 4 companies but don’t know it).  In this situation you have a problem who do you deal with and will it be rectified ?

You need to look at the whole package, but to get back to the original question, a large quality guaranteed Shade Sail for the average Australian suburban backyard  will cost between $3,000-$3,500 Australian dollars + GST.  This sort of cost consists of supply and installation of 4 round galvanized steel posts  with caps in concrete, commercial quality 95% shadecloth and stainless steel fittings  and is about standard in the industry.  You may get a smaller Shade Sail Price with a smaller Shade Sail or Discount DIY Shade Sail, but cutting corners can be more expensive in the long run.  

As I've said before, many jobs (in fact most) are not suitable for your cheap DIY project.  Even though we do stock DIY and pre-made sails there are always going to be hidden costs that most customers don't account for.

It is important keep in mind that most jobs will require Custom Shade Sails with sometimes trickier considerations.  Shade Sails should not be done on the cheap.  Waterproof Sails and PVC Sails, for example generally cost more.  Larger multi-sail jobs can range up to tens of thousands, so it is important to have an approved budget for your project.  We often use our innovation and knowledge to help make jobs more cost effective. Some schools for example can often apply for government sustainability grants like the Solar Program or Sustainable Schools to cover the cost of Shade Structures.  We frequently monitor what grants are available and can advise customers on how to apply for them.

For international and interstate customers, we often provide Shade Sails pre-made or customised to specification and recommend a local supplier for the consultation and installation.

Unlike many providers, we are a one-stop shop and give customers a single point of call and a single Shade Sail Price.  We have no need to outsource any aspect of our Shade Sail jobs and we do everything from consulting to design, manufacture (including stitching) to installation, post digging, construction and maintenance plans and have insurance and quality policies in place.

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Recycling Shade Sails

1800SHADEU is helping to reduce landfill with our steel, PVC  and Polyethelene recycling program.

Steel is one of the worlds most recycled products with about 1.9 million tones of ferrous scrap being recycled in Australia every year. 1800SHADEU recycles all of its offcuts  but prefers to use them in other structures such as roof masts, which is also beneficial to the customer because a higher than standard steel can be used. Where this is not possible, the offcuts are collected by a scrap merchant for recycling where 100% of the product is able to be recycled.

 90% of PVC  consumed in Australia is used in long life applications such as pipe, flooring and cable, therefore recycling volumes of PVC are relatively low due to there use in building. 80% of PVC products have a life expectancy of 15-100yrs. PVC waste accounts for less than 1% of waste going to landfill every year. 1800SHADEU has all its PVC offcuts and fabric tubes picked up for recycling.

ShadeSails are fabricated from High Density Polyethelene HDPE. 1800SHADEU packages all its ShadeSail scraps ready for the recycler to pick up. Plastic loses some of its original quality through recycling and even the molecular structure can change which may not make it possible to make the original product,but it may be made in to outdoor furniture, wheelie bins, compost bins and new plastic bottles.

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