Ordinary light bulbs often burn out quickly in garage door openers, but are CFLs the answer to the problem? We contacted the two largest residential garage door opener companies to ask about CFLs and possible damage to the opener. that CFLs will NOT damage your interference from the CFL ballast can reduce the operating range of your transmitter, they recommend always using an incandescent bulb. Garage door openers produce a lot of vibration, which can kill incandescent bulbs prematurely. To fix the problem, tighten all the bolts on your unit and make sure it’s solidly mounted to the ceiling. Then, install a “rough service” bulb (available at hardware stores and home centers). These bulbs have heavy-duty filaments with extra support wires to keep them from breaking. sends us letters about how “ungreen” incandescent bulbs are, wait aThe average opener light is on only a few minutes a day.
If your opener doesn’t have a plastic lens, the bulb is unprotected, so choose a rough-service bulb with the glass from shattering if it’s ever struck.Step 1: Belkin Wemo Wifi Outlet (or, Finding Wemo)Show All Items Here's the first half of the magic, kids. These Belkin Wifi outlets are great. They can be controlled from your phone, from anywhere. They cost about $50 at Apple, Target, etc. A bit steep for turning a light on, but I found it a justifiable cost for this use. Certainly there are many other ways to do this same thing (Raspberry Pi, Arduino, laptop, unused cellphone), but this was easy and took about a half hour once I had the supplies in hand. Setup is really easy. The Wemo connects itself to your home Wifi router and becomes accessible from your phone via their app. The coolest part is that IFTTT (If This Then That) now supports the Wemo! If you're not familiar with this, then I'll tell you about that .(see what I did there?) .It's a free service which connects many different data sources together based on simple rules called recipes.
It can even control certain hardware, like this Belkin switch or the Philips LED Hue light bulbs. More on IFTTT later. « PreviousNext »View All Steps DownloadDoor OpenersUsing trusted and reliable brands, our skilled technicians can automate most conventional garage door systems with a minimum of fuss. What type of door do you want to motorise? At Doors Direct we install and service different motors for four different types of garages as shown below. We also offer an extensive range of Merlin remotes to suit your garage door.We stock a large range of Merlin remotes. Simply phone or email us with your motor model number and we can post a remote to you today. Do you have an existing garage door that is in good condition, but requires a replacement motor? Do you want to make a manual door automatic? Doors Direct can offer you simple, secure and convenient access to your home with one touch of a button. Merlin Garage Door Openers in Brisbane Doors Direct SERVICE, INSTALL, REPAIR and SELL Merlin garage door openers/motors.
No matter what type of garage door you have, chances are it can be fitted with one of the latest styles of Merlin garage door openers. For your safety, these openers are fitted with automatic reverse safety systems should the door encounter any obstruction. At Doors Direct we supply & install Merlin garage door openers for any type of garage door you may have. Whether it is roller doors, sectional doors or tilt doors, we have the right choice for your needs and budget. Listed below are some of our best sellers. Email or call us for information on the whole range. Merlin also has a full 5 year extended warranty available. All residential motors operate by a 240v electrical plug to plug straight into a power point. If you don’t have one located right where the new motor will be installed, you can run a power lead to your existing power point. If you would like us to price in a power point by our licenced electrician into your quote, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
We can install motors for you Monday to Friday, subject to availability. To find out how Doors Direct can help make your life more secure and convenient, phone for a FREE quote now (07) 3161 5963 or (07) 3198 4170. Can’t find what you are looking for? There are many other motors on the market, call or email us today to find out more. The Internet of Things (IoT) continues to grow in home automation technology space, and some devices appear to be more useful than others.An app-enabled slow cooker? I can see the utility for some people. An app-enabled garage door opener? Now, that's something that's truly useful. That's exactly what we have with Chamberlain's $130 MyQ Garage system.Some higher-end Chamberlain garage door openers — the company also makes openers under the LiftMaster name — included internet connectivity for a while, but the MyQ Garage, launched earlier this year, allows users to add app-enabled connectivity to most garage doors made after 1993, including those from Craftsman, Genie, LiftMaster, Stanley, and many more (compatibility chart).
Thanks to an ingenious solution, the MyQ Garage doesn't require any changes be made to your existing garage door setup. There are two components. A base station installs with a pair of included screws on the ceiling near the main drive motor of the garage door opener. A second, smaller battery-powered box (about three inches square) attaches to the garage door with adhesive tape. This is the clever bit. The door-mounted box has an accelerometer inside that knows when the garage door is open, closed, or when it's moving. All the base station does is send open/close commands to the door opener, similar to the remote control in your car.A box checking to see if the door is open or closed is an elegant solution that saves homeowners (and renters) from needing to perform a costly and unnecessary garage door opener replacement. Instead, they simply to add their garage door to the IoT.The companion app, available for iPhone and Android, is very simple. It can be set up with multiple garage doors or even a front gate or lighting, plus other locations for those who have a vacation home, for example.
On the front page of the app — which, handily, can be set to not ask for a password if desired — is an illustration of a garage door that shows the current state of the door (open, closed, in motion) and how long it has been in that state. Figure A shows that my door has been closed for some 15 hours.Simply tapping the door will send a command to either open or close it. It only takes a second or two for the door to respond, even if you're around the world.Here's one interesting part — the opener, when it's trying close the door, emits a long series of beeps and flashes its on-board light repeatedly. This is because you may be hundreds of miles away from your door when it's trying to close, and if there are people in the garage, they may not expect the door to start moving. It's a warning of sorts, and — though it's annoying when you're in the garage — if you're closing the door from afar, it gives you some peace of mind that the thing won't just start moving and squish your neighbor.
The company also strongly recommends that users only use the system with garage doors equipped with obstruction sensors, made mandatory on all new systems in the early 90's. It also says the system should be used only on sectional doors, not larger and heavier one-piece doors.Early reviewers have noted some difficulty in getting the system installed, but it appears Chamberlain has worked out most of the kinks as our system installed flawlessly in about 15 minutes. Any homeowner that's moderately handy can set up the MyQ quickly and easily.Though it's annoying to need yet another app on our phones to control a home device, Chamberlain's app opens quickly, and the company is working with other device makers on partnerships.Chamberlain is adding "Works With Nest" support, allowing users of Nest Thermostats to automatically set their thermostat to Away mode when leaving the house.The company was also announced as a HomeKit partner by Apple at WWDC last month, suggesting that garage door openers will be made part of Apple's integrated home automation platform when iOS 8 launches later this year.