How to Buy a Garage Door Opener the best garage door opener hasIf you're very sensitive to sound or have living space directly above or adjacent to a garage, a belt-driven or direct-driven model is your best choice.If you live in a densely populated area, the signals from all of your neighbors' garage door openers may interfere with your own opener. Look for a dual-frequency garage door opener, which automatically switches between two frequenciesThis technology selects a new, nonrepeating access code from billions of possibilities every time you useThis keeps would-be burglars guessing at your opener's code, and it also keeps your neighbor's remote control from accidentally opening your garage door. keypad or touchpad for remote entry. If this feature doesn't come standard with the unit you chose, it can generally be added asThis allows you to keep using your garage door opener during power outages; however, it's a rare feature,
included only on a few higher-end models. Absent a battery backup, the garage door opener should have a manual release that will let you open and close your garage door by hand in the event of a power outage.Lights are standard equipment on all the garage door openers weLook for lights that you can control independently of the door's opening or closing; some models also come with a motion sensor to automatically activate the lights when you're in the garage. becoming a thing of late. If you would like the ability to check on the status of your garage door (whether it is open or closed), or be able to open or close it remotely, a garage door opener that's compatible with some type of Internet-connected controller is a must. In most cases the compatibility will be built in, but you'll need to spring for an Internet gateway to connect to your home network. A few models have the gateway Know before you go How powerful a motor do you need?
Garage doors range from lightweight, uninsulated aluminum affairs to heavy models with insulation, glass, or solid wood. While weight is a consideration, most garage doors are counterbalanced so even a 1/2 horsepower garage door opener should be sufficient for typical use. Instead, factors such as size and how often you use the garage door are more critical, makers such as Chamberlain say. advantage of opting for a higher horsepower opener (typically 3/4 or 1 1/4 horsepower) is that it can move a door with less strain. That's a plus for heavier, larger doors, or in situations where the opener is used more often than is typically the case (for example, if you use your garage as the primary entrance to your home), as putting less strain on your opener leads to smoother operation and better long term durability. How high is your garage door? Every garage door opener in this report can handle a 7-foot-high garage door without modification, but most
require extension kits for taller doors. Expect to pay about $50 extra for most extension kits, although in some cases you may have to choose between multiple extension kits based on your garage door's height. Don't scrimp on safety. Your garage door opener controls what may be the largest, heaviest moving object in your home (a garage door can weigh up to 600 pounds), so safety is crucial. Federal law requires all garage door openers made since 1993 include sensors to prevent the door from striking anybody who may be in its path. Automatic reverse, which stops the door and lifts off any obstruction, is another common safety feature. openers rely on sensors that stop a garage door if it comes in contact with anOthers are supplied with sensors that shoot an invisible beam of light across your garage opening and will stop and/or reverse the door is something Do it yourself or hire a pro? Regardless of type or maker, user reviews tell us that not every homeowner is fully equipped to tackle the job of
installing a garage door opener themselves. For those who do want to tackle the job, it is certainly doable for those with at minimum decent handyman skills. Read the instructions, then read them again and again before you start so that you understand all steps. Inventory the carton to make sure all parts are on hand before you begin as missing components is a frequent user complaint. Having a helper on hand is also a good idea. Finally, budget enough time so that the job is not rushed -- experts say to expect at least a minimum of four hours, especially if you are also removing an old opener. are not comfortable with the above, the best advice is to hire a professional. If you don't already have a garage door installer in mind, many retailers canLiftMaster garage door openers are similar to the Chamberlain garage door openers (both are made by the same company) profiled inThose are sold only by installers, and could be a good alternative
if you decide that a chain-drive or belt-drive Chamberlain opener is right for Is HomeLink worth the hassle? Many automobiles are sold with the capability of operating your garage door opener right from the dash. HomeLink is the most popular system, but reviews are full of tales of woe over getting built-in HomeLink controls to successfully communicate with a garage door opener, regardless of brand or model. Older cars are a particular problem as the system's protocols have changed over the years. available from HomeLink and from garage door opener manufacturers to restore compatibility, but users often complain about the added expense, or the effort they needed to put in to learn that an adapter was required in the first place. PrevBest Garage Door OpenersBelt-drive Garage Door OpenersChain-drive Garage Door OpenersDirect-drive Garage Door OpenersOur SourcesNextHow To Reattach Your Automatic Garage Door OpenerWe’re lucky where I live.
And my “where I live” I mean my specific neighborhood and my specific house. Knock on wood, we don’t have the issues with flooding that so many around me (including in my neighborhood) do. We don’t lose power. We don’t have major natural disasters. So of course we lost power for the first time since we moved into our house.If you haven’t noticed, it’s been incredibly hot this summer. And on one of our hottest days of the year, we lost power. At first, it was a flicker that went out for just a minute or so before everything turned back on. Five minutes later, the power went out, but there was no buzz of the house turning itself back on. As time ticked by, it got awfully warm in our house. Calling ComEd – our electric company in Chicago – I found out that it would be hours before they expected to repair the blown transformer and restore power.It was a no brainer. I called our library, confirmed they had power (and air conditioning), and I packed up the wee ones.
Getting out of the garage wasn’t a huge issue. I know how to disable the automatic garage door opener. In my case, you simply pull on the red lever, which removes the motor and gear from the track. Then I can manually lift it up and exit the garage – just like I did when I was a little kid and we didn’t have an automatic garage door opener.Unlike when I was a little kid, we don’t have a key to lock our garage door to keep anyone from coming in the way we did back then. Instead, I locked the back door to our house (thank goodness for the battery operated keypad lock on our front door), and manually closed the garage door. What else can I do, right?Yes, it was definitely a good call to leave my house. The power outage was fairly widespread. When there’s no power to stoplights anywhere around, you know it’s a bad sign. It took us awhile to get to the library, but we were happy to be there (and meet up with some friends who had the same idea) once we finally arrived.
After a few hours at the library, I got a text from a friend letting me know power had been restored. We all cheered and jumped back in the car to return home. When we arrived, I manually opened the garage door again and drove inside. After scooting the wee ones through the front door, I turned my attention to the garage door, knowing I wanted to reconnect it so that it would work with my opener again.It’s only easy if you remember how to do it. I pressed the garage door opener, pleased with myself for remembering how to do this, since I hadn’t had to reconnect my garage door opener in over 10 years. I waited for it to engage the gears as it went past, smiling to myself. The motor worked and pulled the gear along, but the garage door wasn’t engaged and remained firmly planted on the garage floor.I tried pulling and tugging the cord to see if that worked. Calling friends to see if they (or their husbands if they were around) knew how to reattach the garage door opener.
I could have sat down to cry. Or I could have pretended that all was well with the world and that I wanted to manually open and close the garage door for the rest of the time I lived in this house. Or I could have waited for my husband to get home and make him fix it. But that’s not how I roll. I like figuring things out and fixing them.So I stood up on the door of my car to peer at the track and gear and garage door. It isn’t a complicated system, relatively. I should be able to visually see how it goes together and fix it that way. Once I really looked at it, I figured it out, but I’ll save you the pain of having to sit and stare and puzzle.The first key is that you have to open your garage door. Trying to reengage your garage door opener with the door closed doesn’t work. Next up, is reattaching the gear to the track. When you disengage it, it’s easy and obvious. You simply pull back on the emergency cord, and it disengages. Pulling back a second time does nothing.