Retractableawnings.com® vs. Eclipse Comparison

How do RetractableAwnings.com’s products match up against the Eclipse Total Eclipse awning? We compared our products with Eclipse’s in terms of frame materials, fabrics, ease-of-use and safety features, optional features, and warranty, and here’s what we found:

Frame and material comparison

Our awnings have a larger maximum width using one piece of fabric and a single motor: 52 feet 6 inches wide vs. Eclipse’s maximum size of 40 feet 0 inches wide. The maximum projection is similar for the two products: Our maximum projection is 16 feet; the total Eclipse’s maximum projection is 16 feet. Both products have frames made with heavy duty commercial grade aluminum that is coated with Qualicoat® powder coating in your choice of 4 colors. And both brands have also had cycle testing performed -- our awnings have been tested at 80,000 open/close cycles; Eclipse’s at 60,000.

One of the differences between RetractableAwnings.com’s awning frames and those used in the Total Eclipse is that our attention to quality extends to the assembly hardware that you depend on to hold everything together. Ours is made of 316 marine-grade stainless steel that resists corrosion, rust and pitting; Eclipse doesn’t state on its website what type of hardware is used in the Total Eclipse.

Fabric comparison

Like to have lots of fabric options to choose from? We do too. RetractableAwnings.com offers more than 500 solution-dyed fabrics from internationally known manufacturers such as Para, Dickson, Sunbrella, Sattler and Recasens; Eclipse offers around 200 fabric choices from Sunbrella and other manufacturers that aren’t named on their website.

Since we recognize that quality must extend even to the type of thread used to sew our awning fabrics, we use Goretex brand Tenara thread that is UV-resistant and also resists damage from saltwater, cleaning products and extreme temperatures, and has a lifetime warranty against seam separation.

Feature comparison

We offer value-added features that increase the safety and convenience of our retractable awnings. All of our folding arm awnings have a patented roller tube design that prevents the fabric from bunching, optional front bar telescopic poles for extra wind support, and a patented center support to protect the fabric from fraying / separation -- just to name a few. Eclipse offers none of these features.

Although we both offer a rain/sun sensor, Eclipse also doesn’t offer the kind of high-tech awning options you can get from RetractableAwnings.com -- such as a smartphone/tablet app / module that you can use to schedule the opening and closing times of your awning, or a timer/digital keypad and keyswitch.

Warranty comparison

Eclipse offers a 10-year warranty on the frame of its Total Eclipse awning and a 5-year warranty on the powder coating of the frame, and if you want a longer warranty, you can are required to pay extra to buy one. RetractableAwnings.com provides a 25-year non-prorated warranty on our frames and a 10-year warranty on our brand name fabrics.

With RetractableAwnings.com, you get more (and better) awning for your money than with Eclipse -- and you get it factory direct, with no middleman. See the matrix and download link below for the full side-by-side comparison of RetractableAwnings.com and the Eclipse Total Eclipse.

Download Comparison PDF