There’s a Garage Door Opener for Every Personality

For many, automatic garage door openers are invaluable. They’re convenient and make homes more safe and secure. Consequently, when they break it can become a major problem for an immediate replacement. Here are various features to keep in mind when considering a new garage door opener.

Types of Garage Door Openers

There are four types of garage door openers, each with one thing in common – a motor that moves a trolley that is connected to the garage door. And when activated, it causes the door to move up and down. The difference between the garage types is the driving utility.

Chain Drive

A chain drive garage opener uses a metal chain to move the garage door. This is the most popular type among homeowners as it’s usually the least expensive option.

Belt Drive

A belt drive garage opener uses a rubber belt to move the garage door, making the movement smoother and quieter compared to the chain drive option. This option is ideal for homeowners who are more noise sensitive or have a garage directly below or beside a bedroom or living area.

Screw Drive

A screw drive garage opener uses a threaded steel rod, which lifts and lowers the garage as the rod rotates. With fewer moving parts, this also provides noise-free smoothness and overall quietness of the whole operation.

Direct Drive

A direct drive garage opener uses a motor to move the garage door. It’s the most simplistic option of the four, and also provides a smooth and quiet operation.

Features of Garage Door Openers

When reviewing your garage door opener options, you’ll come across several features. Depending on your lifestyle, some might be nice to have while others are more of a necessity. Here are the most common features:

Horsepower

Horsepower makes a garage door move up and down. The size and weight of your garage door can help determine what level of horsepower you’ll need. Horsepower ranges from 1/3 to 11/2 with 1/3 working best with smaller and lighter one-car garages and 11/2 working best with larger and heavy two-car garages.

Remotes and Keypads

A convenient aspect about most automatic garage door openers is that they can be activated through an external remote, usually inside cars, as well as an external keypad where you enter a code to open the garage.

Security Lighting

No matter if you’re leaving or coming home, it’s nice to have a light overhead so you can see where you’re going. Most modern garage door openers come standard with this feature of automatically turning on the light when the door is opened or closed. Unlike other installed lights that might be in your garage, this one turns off automatically after inactivity.

Motion Sensors

Garage doors are heavy and can cause a lot of damage if there aren’t proper safety features installed. With motion sensors, objects can be detected when they pass under the garage door, which can prevent damage to your car or injuring loved ones. When the door is raised, a laser scans the ground; if anyone or anything crosses that line, the motion sensor will activate preventing the garage door from moving further.

Wi-Fi Integration

With today’s modern technology, garage door openers can connect to Wi-Fi, making it possible to control your garage from virtually anywhere with a mobile phone or tablet. You don’t even have to be close in vicinity to your property, meaning you could check on the status of your door even when you’re at work or off on a family vacation.

Battery Backup

When the power goes out, it’s not only scary but annoying when much of our day-to-day is so reliant on electricity. With the added benefit of a battery backup to your garage door opener, there’s no need to worry about the garage being inoperable. The battery backup will complete your closing or opening function.

Installing a new garage door opener can be a huge undertaking. That’s why it’s best to hire a professional with experience to handle and test the system for you. A garage door can weigh as much as 600 pounds, which is why it’s important to get it synchronized and aligned properly. J.D. Griffiths can help.

If you’re weighing your options on which garage door opener to choose, J.D. Griffiths highly recommends LiftMaster Garage Door Openers for all of our clients’ installations. They have a great selection of options to choose from with a range of features to fit your lifestyle. As always, if you have any questions on which option is right for you, feel free to contact us.