Garage Door Opener Factors To Consider Before You Buy
If you've yet to install an overhead garage door opener, you've likely struggled to open and close your door manually for the past decade or more. Meanwhile, any neighbors with automatic garage door openers have made going in and out of the garage look so much easier. What exactly is a garage door opener - and is it time for you to invest in one of your own?
What Is A Garage Door Opener?
Simply put, it's a motorized device to make it easier and more convenient to open your garage door. Most models are installed on the garage ceiling. Thanks to advancements in technology, the garage door opener can be controlled through a button or panel inside or outside the garage, through a handheld device, or even by a smartphone app. The remote sends a signal via radio, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi to the motorized opener, allowing you to open the garage door from a short distance or anywhere in the world.
Your garage door opener greatly affects the safety and security of your loved ones and Loveland property, and whether the garage door opens and closes efficiently.
There are many benefits to having a new garage door opener installed. In this article, we're going to outline a number of the biggest advantages they offer and the most important factors to consider before choosing a garage door opener model.
Biggest Benefits of Garage Door Opener Installation
Want to know what you're (currently) missing out on? Here are some of the biggest perks to having a garage door opener installed.
Garage Door Openers Are So Convenient
Remember that time when it was pouring down with rain, you got home after a terrible day at work and you had to get out of your car to open the garage door? You got absolutely soaked in those few seconds, and it made a bad day infinitely worse. This is exactly why you need a garage door opener!
The level of convenience they provide is unrivaled. Once you experience it for yourself, you'll wonder why it took you so long to have one installed. No longer will you have to get out of your car in whatever god-awful weather conditions you might find to get in or out of your garage. Nor will you have to fight with the weight of your garage door (and they can be heavy!) to get it into the open position. This is all done for you, and all it requires on your part is the click of a button. Magic!
Reduce Your Risk of Accidents
Each year, garage door-related injuries are the reported cause of more than 20,000 emergency room visits. Garage doors are generally safe to use if they're properly maintained. However, if you haven't had yours checked out in a while or you've noticed problems but delayed repairs, your door has an increased likelihood of malfunctions - making accidents more likely to occur.
For example, were you to experience broken garage door springs, the consequences can be severe. If you're manually operating the door and one of those breaks, the whole door can come crashing down. As you can imagine, this can cause serious injury.
With a garage door opener installed, you're kept out of harm's way. You click a button on the remote and the opener does the rest. Were something to go wrong with the door, you won't be in its direct path, so will escape without injury. Something to think about – especially if you have kids!
Make Your Home More Secure
When you're opening your door manually from the outside, lifting it up, your car is left empty and your back is turned. In those few seconds, you're extremely vulnerable and your kids may be alone in the car. A garage door opener means you don't have to put yourself in that position any longer.
Modern garage door openers (like these Liftmaster opener models) use rolling entry codes, making them very difficult to hack or manipulate, and ensure that you can drive directly inside your garage and have it close behind you, so you're only stepping out of the car once you're actually inside and know it's safe.
Illuminate Your Garage
One of the most frustrating things in life is trying to locate and insert keys into a lock when it's dark or there's very limited lighting. And moving around a cluttered garage space in the dark is asking for trouble. A lot of people end up with a nasty bang on their heads for their troubles.
Another great feature of modern garage door openers is that many of them come with quality lighting that comes on as the door is opened. So from the moment you step out of your car, you can see what you're doing. No more fumbling around in the dark to find your light switch.
Affordable to Run
One of the big doubts a lot of people have when they come to us and are interested in a garage door opener is running costs. “But won't having one installed bump up my energy bills in the long run?” Obviously, it will, but not by as much as you think.
As your opener is only likely to be called into action for a minute or two per day, and sometimes not even that, the amount it adds to your energy bill can really be very minimal. Obviously, it depends somewhat on the model that you choose to install – the latest openers are far more energy-efficient than their predecessors – but we see people pay as little as $20-$30 extra per year for energy. That's an absolute steal given the other benefits an opener provides.
Mechanical or motorized garage door openers have been around for about 100 years and in all that time, they've continued to evolve and are now an indispensable tool for any homeowner who has a garage on their property.
Top Garage Door Opener Factors To Consider Before Buying
There are many important things to think about before you buy a garage door opener. Many consumers focus on how much the unit costs at retail and the expense of installation, and that's understandable, but you also should consider:
Garage Door Size and Weight
An eight-foot-wide aluminum garage door may weigh less than a 100 pounds, meaning you can probably get away with a ½ horsepower garage door opener. But a larger garage door for a two-car or three-car garage can weigh hundreds of pounds, requiring the strength of a ¾ horsepower or even more powerful opener.
Types of Openers
There are three kinds of garage door openers to be aware of. A chain drive is a tried-and-true fixture in thousands of garages. It's affordable, durable, cheaper to buy and install – but is very noisy when in use. The second drive are belt drive openers, which are quiet but more expensive. The third type of garage door opener is screw-driven. This kind of opener is powerful, reliable, durable, fast, and less likely to break down – assuming it gets annual maintenance.
Security Features
A garage door opener controls entry to your property, so you should always look for a model which features rolling-code technology. This means the security code changes each time someone uses the remote or control pad to open the garage door, making it less likely for the code to be intercepted by tech-savvy burglars.
Besides rolling-code technology, the newest garage door openers provide security features that work so beautifully and flawlessly you can stop thinking about them once the opener is installed. Look for a garage door opener that includes an automatic reversing system, photoelectric sensors, a manual release, and battery backup and security light options.
Convenience
For the average U.S. homeowner, a garage door is opened and closed more than 1,500 times a year. If you don't have a mechanized opener, that's a lot of stress on your poor little human muscles. Think how easy it would be to open your garage door in the middle of a rainstorm if you didn't have to get out of your car to do it.
Other Technological Features
Rolling-codes make it harder for those with criminal intent to break into your garage, but some features of newer models ramp up security and convenience. Thanks to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, some models integrate with your home's smart features – meaning you can open and control your garage door through Google, Apple's HomeKit, and smart hubs connected to your home network. Many garage door openers have smartphone apps, too.
Thankfully for consumers, there are many key features to consider when you're thinking of replacing your garage door opener. There are multiple horsepower levels (1/2-, ¾-, 1-horsepower), safety features, and high-tech gadgetry that can make selecting a new opener a hard decision. The best you can do is to educate yourself on what's available, compare the pros and cons, and buy a product you can afford and are most comfortable using.
Hiring Professional Installers
While an experienced handyman may be able to install a garage door opener for you, the process often requires two people, and the use of a ladder and tools besides a screwdriver. Installation could also take several hours, which doesn't seem as long if someone else is doing the work for you.
Call C & M for Loveland Garage Door Services
C & M Garage Doors has been a Loveland fixture since 1994. We pride ourselves on educating residential and business customers on the best products available, but never steer them towards a garage door opener or other products which don't conform to their needs or budget. Our garage door team has provided service to hundreds of satisfied customers, and we're known for services and premium products at affordable prices. If you live in Northern Colorado, and want to learn more about whether a garage door opener is right for you, call our team at 970-663-7335 for more information, or use our online contact form to request a no-cost inspection.
For additional information about the installation and repair services our team offers, visit our garage door services page.